Viveka murder case: Telangana HC cancels bail of Gangi Reddy; gives CBI two-month deadline to complete probe

Related: Avinash Reddy anticipatory bail petition to be heard in Telangana HC

Court sets deadline of two months

The court said the cancellation of bail will be till 30 June and that the CBI should complete the investigation within two months. The court said on 1 July, the trial court was free to grant bail to him after he executes a personal bond for ₹1.5 lakh.

The court gave the orders after hearing arguments by the counsel for the CBI that Gangi Reddy had plotted and carried out the conspiracy to murder Vivekananda Reddy.

The CBI’s counsel also alleged that he had influenced the witnesses in the case. As there was scope for further influencing the witnesses, the bail granted to him may be revoked.

The counsel said that Gangi Reddy had political connections which he was using to influence the witnesses. But Gangi Reddy’s counsel maintained that CBI had tried and failed several times in getting his bail cancelled.

He recalled how the Kadapa court and the Andhra Pradesh High Court had dismissed the CBI’s petitions for cancellation of his bail.

He also brought to the notice of the high court that even the Supreme Court did not say that bail granted to Gangi Reddy could be revoked.

‘Nothing to do with the murder’

He argued that Gangi Reddy had nothing to do with the murder of Vivekananda Reddy and therefore there was no need to cancel the bail granted to him.

Gangi Reddy was arrested by the then-state-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on 28 March, 2019.

Later, the Pulivendula court granted him default bail on June 27, 2019, as the SIT could not file a chargesheet within the stipulated time. The CBI filed a chargesheet against him in 2021.

As he is the A1, the CBI has been seeking cancellation of his bail as there was ample scope for him to influence the course of the investigation.

When its plea was dismissed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the premier investigation agency knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court.

The apex court, while transferring the trial of the case from Andhra Pradesh to CBI court in Hyderabad in November last year, asked the CBI to approach the Telangana High Court.

Related: CBI appoints new probe team for Viveka murder case

The case so far

On Wednesday, the Telangana High Court had posted the anticipatory bail petition filed by YSRCP MP Avinash Reddy to 27 April.

Avinash Reddy’s father YS Bhaskar Reddy was arrested on 16 April and was charged under Sections 120B (conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as he played a crucial role in the case, according to the CBI.

Soon after Vivekananda Reddy’s death, Bhaskar Reddy and Avinash Reddy’s names figured in the murder case that created a sensation before the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh in 2019.

The probe agency believes he had spoken to the accused before and after the murder.

According to the CBI, the father and son hatched the plot to murder Vivekananda Reddy and sheltered the accused.

Their associate Devireddy Shiva Shankar Reddy played a crucial role in erasing evidence, the CBI said in a response filed before the court to oppose the bail of Sunil Yadav, who is an accused in the case.

The CBI also said that a ₹40 crore “supari” (contract to kill) was offered to the accused to eliminate Viveka.

The Supreme Court last November transferred the case from Andhra Pradesh to a Special CBI Court in Hyderabad for investigation and trial into the conspiracy behind the murder case.