The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Dr. Suneetha Narreddy, daughter of former MP YS Vivekananda Reddy, seeking a direction for further investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into her father’s murder and challenging the grant of anticipatory bail to YSR Congress Party MP YS Avinash Reddy as well as bail to other accused.
A bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh passed the order after the Additional Solicitor General appearing for the CBI submitted that a third supplementary charge sheet had already been filed on Tuesday and that no further investigation was desirable at this stage.
“Learned ASG appearing for CBI submitted that a third supplementary charge sheet has already been filed yesterday. In light of this we are not inclined to interfere,” the Court stated.
Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that Dr. Suneetha Narreddy has additional relevant material that the CBI has not considered. The Supreme Court granted her liberty to approach the appropriate forum with her grievance.
The Court further directed the trial court to complete proceedings under Section 207 CrPC — supply of charge sheet, FIR, witness statements and other relevant documents to the accused — within four weeks. It also requested the trial court to expedite the trial.
YS Vivekananda Reddy, a senior Congress leader and brother of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula, Kadapa district, in 2019. The case was initially investigated by a Special Investigation Team of the State Crime Investigation Department and later transferred to the CBI in July 2020. The CBI filed its charge sheet in October 2021 and a supplementary charge sheet in January 2022.
In November 2022, the Supreme Court had transferred the trial from Andhra Pradesh to a special CBI court in Hyderabad, observing that the apprehensions raised by the wife and daughter regarding derailment of a fair trial were reasonable.
The Telangana High Court had earlier granted anticipatory bail to YS Avinash Reddy, noting that no direct evidence was available to prove his participation in any larger conspiracy.
With the dismissal of the petitions today, the Supreme Court has paved the way for the trial to proceed expeditiously before the special CBI court in Hyderabad.
Case Title: Suneetha Narreddy v. YS Avinash Reddy & Anr. | SLP (Crl) No. 7449/2023
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