NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the proceedings before the Telangana High Court, wherein Kadapa MP Y S Avinash Reddy, an accused in murder case of Y S Vivekananda Reddy was protected from arrest till April 25, while noting that the order directing CBI not to arrest him was atrocious.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha scheduled the matter for consideration on Monday.
On behalf Dr Suneetha Narreddy, daughter of the deceased, senior advocate Sidharth Luthra questioned validity of the High Court's order of April 18.
"My father was killed, the incident was quite disturbing," he said.
Advocate D P Singh for the CBI submitted the respondent tried to show it as heart attack.
"We will stay the HC's proceedings and may stay the order," the bench said.
Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar appeared for Avinash Reddy and took the notice.
The HC had directed the YSRCP MP to appear before the CBI everyday for examination in the case pertaining to the murder of Y S Vivekananda Reddy, and granted him protection from arrest till April 25.
Vivekananda Reddy, one of the brothers of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula in Kadapa district, on the night of March 15, 2019, weeks before the Assembly elections in the State.
The deceased was the former minister and was uncle of current Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The plea by the daughter of the deceased contended the High Court erroneously has gone in to the merits of the case while passing the interim order, contrary to the law laid down by this court.
"The investigation is at a crucial stage where the CBI is investigating the alleged larger conspiracy as directed by this court and for this the CBI should be allowed to investigate freely without any restriction," it said.
Moreover the High Court has practically derailed the investigation process at this crucial juncture without giving due importance to the date of April 30, 2023, by which time the CBI is required to conclude investigation, it added.
The petition claimed the investigation has revealed that the scene of offence was cleaned and the wounds on the body were wrapped up with bandages to give credence to the story of death due to a heart attack in the presence and at the behest of Y S Avinash Reddy, Y S Bhaskar Reddy and D Shiva Shankar Reddy, among others.
"The High Court ought to have appreciated the fact that there are multiple incidents wherein witness have been threatened and investigation has been interfered with at the behest of Respondent and his close associates which formed basis of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh transferring the investigation to the CBI and thereafter this Court transferring the trial to Telangana," it said.
The Respondent No.1 has used his political clout to scuttle the investigation and threaten the witnesses and the reason of him being a Politician should not be a ground for restraining the CBI from arresting him in case they deem it necessary, the plea added.
"The Respondent No.1 has been successful in evading the law since last four years, every time when the investigation has reached a crucial stage wherein his role is being investigated, he has been able to scuttle it with the help of his family members and associates by using their influence," it claimed.
The plea further claimed the High Court failed to appreciate the submission of CBI that custodial interrogation of Respondent No.1 here in is absolutely essential for further progress of investigation.
