ATROCIOUS & UNACCEPTABLE: SC stays Telangana HC order in Viveka murder case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Telangana High Court order granting protection from arrest till April 25 to YSR Congress Party MP Y S Avinash Reddy in a case pertaining to the murder of former Andhra Pradesh Minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy.

Observing that an "atrocious and unacceptable" order was passed by the High Court, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha stayed the proceedings before the Telangana High Court and issued notice on the plea challenging protection to Reddy.

"Issue notice. There shall be a stay of the impugned directions contained in paragraph 18 of the impugned order of the High Court. However, till Monday the CBI shall not arrest him," the bench said while posting the matter for hearing on April 24.

The Telangana High Court on April 18 directed the YSRCP MP to appear before the CBI every day for examination in the case pertaining to the murder of Y S Vivekananda Reddy and granted him protection from arrest till April 25. In an interim order on the anticipatory bail plea of Avinash Reddy, the court asked him to cooperate with the Central agency and appear before it daily 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 case was initially probed by a special investigation team (SIT) of the state crime investigation department but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020. The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021, and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022.