NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from an accused on the pleas seeking cancellation of his bail in connection with the 2019 murder of former Congress MP YS Vivekananda Reddy.

A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar took note of the submissions of a counsel for the CBI and advocate Jesal Wahi, appearing for Suneetha Narreddy, daughter of Vivekananda, against the Telangana High Court order granting bail to Gajjala Uday Kumar Reddy.

“Issue notice and tag these petitions with the pending ones,” the CJI said.

Suneetha, in her plea, has assailed the 21 August, 2024 order of the high court granting regular bail to Gajjala, believed to be a close associate of Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy from the YSR Congress party, on execution of a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh with two sureties each of equal sum.

“There are grave and serious allegations made against the respondent number 1 as he is found to be one of the conspirators to the murder of the deceased as well as instrumental in destruction of vital evidence and registering false FIR against the CBI officer,” the plea said.

Seeking the cancellation of bail, the daughter said the relief was granted to him at a “crucial juncture” when the trial was about to commence.

There was a similar plea filed by the CBI against the high court order, indicating a series of litigations filed by both sides in the case.

On 6 December, last year, the top court sought responses from the CBI and YS Bhaskar Reddy, father of Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy on a plea against his bail in the murder case.

The court then issued the notices on a plea of Suneetha seeking cancellation of bail granted by the Telangana High Court to Bhaskar Reddy.

Vivekananda, the uncle of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was found murdered at his home in Pulivendula, 2019.

The CBI, which took over the investigation in 2020, alleged a complex conspiracy involving multiple persons.

On 19 November, 2024, the top court sought responses from Andhra Pradesh Police and others on two separate pleas filed by Suneetha and CBI official Ram Singh.

The pleas sought quashing of criminal proceedings against Suneetha and the CBI official involved in the murder investigation.

They had alleged the state police lodged a counter FIR against them to derail the ongoing investigation and urged the top court to quash the criminal proceedings.

Suneetha was named as an accused along with CBI officer Singh in a criminal case lodged by MV Krishna Reddy, former personal assistant to Vivekananda.