Viveka murder case: Supreme Court asks CBI to place case diary on record

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for petitioner Suneetha Narreddy said two or three issues in the matter required detailed hearing.

ByPTI

Published Feb 05, 2024 | 7:57 PMUpdatedFeb 05, 2024 | 7:57 PM

YS Vivekananda Reddy. was found dead in the bathroom of his house in Kadapa on 15 March 2019. (Supplied)

The Supreme Court on Monday, 5 February, asked the CBI to place on record the case diary of the murder of former Congress MP YS Vivekananda Reddy, brother of the late Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and placed the matter for 22 April.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta asked the probe agency to file the document in digital form after Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, said the case diary comprises 60 volumes.

At the outset, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for petitioner Suneetha Narreddy, Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter, said two or three issues in the matter require a detailed hearing.

The bench then posted for 22 April the hearing on her plea challenging a Telangana High Court order that granted anticipatory bail to YSRCP MP Y S Avinash Reddy, Vivekananda Reddy’s nephew, in the murder case.

Also Read: Court grants YSRCP MP Avinash Reddy’s father Bhaskar Reddy 12-day escort bail

The case

Vivekananda Reddy — popularly known as Viveka — was found killed at his residence in Pulivendula in Kadapa district on the night of 15 March, 2019, weeks before the Assembly polls in the southern state. The case was initially probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020.

The CBI filed the charge sheet in the case on 26 October, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on 31 January, 2022.

On 18 July last year, the top court had asked the CBI to place on record a copy of the charge sheet filed in the case.

Narreddy had earlier submitted before the top court that the CBI was directed to conclude its probe in her father’s murder case by 30 June last year, but the high court, on the other hand, granted anticipatory bail to Avinash Reddy.

The high court granted anticipatory bail to Avinash Reddy on 31 May, 2023 and directed him not to leave the country without the CBI’s permission till the investigation was complete.

Avinash Reddy is a cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, YSR’s son, and is under the CBI scanner and has been examined by the agency several times in connection with the case.

His father YS Bhaskar Reddy was arrested by the CBI on 16 April, last year, in connection with the killing of Vivekananda Reddy.

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