May 04, 2024 08:12 AM IST
The Telangana high court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking cancellation of bail granted to YS Avinash Reddy in a case pertaining to the murder of his uncle and former Andhra Pradesh minister YS Vivekananda Reddy in March 2019
The Telangana high court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking cancellation of bail granted to YSR Congress Party lawmaker and party candidate for Kadapa Lok Sabha seat YS Avinash Reddy in a case pertaining to the murder of his uncle and former Andhra Pradesh minister YS Vivekananda Reddy in March 2019, people familiar with the matter said.
The verdict was delivered by a single-judge bench of justice K Laxman, which had reserved the judgment last month after a prolonged argument over a petition filed by one of the accused in the case, Shaik Dastagiri.
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Dastagiri, who worked as a driver with Vivekananda Reddy before the latter’s murder, turned an approver in the case, being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since July 2020.
In his petition filed on May 31 last year, Dastagiri alleged that he was facing a threat to his life from Avinash Reddy’s henchmen and he was being coerced to issue a statement in favour of the Kodapa MP.
CBI also filed a counter in the case, stating that Avinash Reddy indeed wielded considerable influence and had managed to sway certain witnesses in the case.
Citing several complaints of death threats from Dastagiri, the agency further said the YSRCP leader had breached the conditions of his bail.
Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter N Sunitha Reddy, who also impleaded in the case, argued that the bail granted to Avinash Reddy be revoked.
Avinash Reddy’s counsel T Niranjan Reddy, however, argued that Dastagiri was already under protection through the witness protection scheme and hence, the allegations of threat to his life had no merit.
After hearing the arguments, justice Laxman dismissed Dastagiri’s petition on Friday and ordered that the bail granted to the Kadapa lawmaker would continue.
The judge also granted full-fledged bail to Avinash Reddy’s father YS Bhaskar Reddy, who is also an accused in the same case. He was earlier granted interim bail on health grounds.
The court, however, refused to grant bail to other accused G Uday Kumar Reddy and Sunil Yadav.
Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of YSRCP president and present chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, weeks before the elections.
Last year, CBI had named Avinash Reddy and his father Bhaskar Reddy in the charge sheet as accused in the murder of Vivekananda Reddy. In April, 2023, CBI arrested Bhaskar Reddy. Avinash Reddy, however, was granted anticipatory bail on May 31, 2023.
Avinash Reddy denied the allegations against him and his father and alleged that the federal agency ignored several key facts in the case.
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience.
