The Telangana High Court has postponed the hearing on Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy’s anticipatory bail plea in connection to the murder case of Andhra Pradesh minister YS Vivekananda Reddy to May 26. The court asked the CBI counsel how long it would take for him to submit his arguments, to which he replied that it would take an hour. The court adjourned the hearing to Friday after Avinash Reddy and Suneetha Reddy’s lawyers said it would depend on the arguments of other parties. The Supreme Court had criticised the Telangana High Court for its delay in deciding Avinash Reddy’s anticipatory bail petition earlier last week.
Avinash Reddy remained at Viswa Bharati Hospital where his mother was undergoing treatment for a heart ailment. He wrote to the CBI seeking exemption from appearance till May 27 due to his mother’s condition. Avinash Reddy has not appeared before the CBI on May 16 and May 19. On May 16, he cited prior engagements in Pulivendula as the reason and sought four days’ time. On May 19, he conveyed that he would not be able to appear before it as his mother had taken ill. Last month, the CBI arrested Avinash Reddy’s father YS Bhaskar Reddy, a cousin of Rajasekhara Reddy, who was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019.
The CBI alleged that Bhaskar Reddy, Avinash Reddy, and their follower Devireddy Shiva Shankar Reddy hatched a conspiracy to murder Vivekananda Reddy as he had opposed the Kadapa Lok Sabha ticket to Avinash Reddy. Avinash Reddy has denied the allegations and alleged that the CBI ignored several key facts in the case.
