Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy gets anticipatory bail in Viveka murder case

The Telangana High Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy with certain conditions in former Andhra Pradesh minister Y.S. Vivekandnda Reddy's murder case.

Justice M. Laxman, who had completed the hearing last week, pronounced the order on Wednesday.

The court granted anticipatory bail subject to certain conditions.

It directed that the MP should not leave the country without the prior permission from the CBI. "The petitioner shall not tamper with the prosecution witnesses or alter any evidence," reads the order.

The judge directed Avinash Reddy to cooperate with the investigation and appear before the CBI police every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. till end of June 2023 and regularly as and when he is required for investigation.

The court also ruled that in the event of the petitioner's arrest by the CBI, he shall be released on bail on executing a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two sureties for a like sum each.

The CBI and Vivekananda Reddy's daughter Sunitha Reddy had opposed the anticipatory bail. However, after hearing the arguments of all, the court did not find any justification for custodial interrogation of the petitioner by the CBI.

Avinash Reddy, who is a cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, had failed to appear before the CBI three times this month.

The MP had not appeared before the CBI on May 16 and May 19 in Hyderabad. On May 16, he cited prior-fixed official engagements in Pulivendula as the reason and sought four days' time. On May 19, he conveyed to the CBI that he would not be able to appear before it as his mother took ill. She was admitted to a hospital in Kurnool and the MP was also staying there.

The central agency had issued a fresh notice on May 19, directing him to appear before it at its Hyderabad office on May 22.

Amid reports of the CBI officials reaching Kurnool for possible arrest, he wrote to the CBI seeking exemption from appearance till May 27 in view of his mother's condition.

Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, uncle of Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, weeks before the elections.

Last month, the CBI arrested Avinash Reddy's father Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy, a cousin of Rajasekhara Reddy.