An interesting development took place at the special court for CBI cases in Nampally criminal courts complex in Hyderabad on Thursday, when YSR Congress party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy appeared in connection with the quid pro quo case against him.
Jagan appeared before the court after nearly six years in connection with the ongoing disproportionate assets (DA) cases filed by the CBI.
Around the same time, his cousin sister Y S Sunitha, daughter of the late Y S Vivekananda Reddy, came to the same court in connection with the hearings related to the Viveka murder case, in which she has been actively seeking a thorough CBI probe.
Eyewitnesses noted that although Jagan and Sunitha crossed paths in the court lobby, neither greeted the other, and both turned their faces away—an interaction, or lack thereof, that surprised those present in the courtroom corridor.
The strained relationship between the two has been an open secret. Sunitha has repeatedly alleged that Jagan and certain YSRCP leaders protected those involved in her father’s murder.
She has submitted statements to the media and in court claiming that efforts were made to shield the culprits, a charge Jagan’s camp has consistently denied.
The simultaneous presence of the cousins in the same court building — each for a different case — has once again highlighted the deep fissures within the YSR family.
Observers note that the visible coldness at the court has added a political dimension to the already sensitive and high-profile murder case.
