YSR Congress party leader and former MLA Chevireddy Bhasker Reddy’s son Mohit Reddy received major relief on Friday after the Supreme Court granted him anticipatory bail in the illegal liquor case pending against him.
The apex court also issued notices to the Andhra Pradesh government seeking its response and adjourned further hearing by four weeks.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities and violations under the state’s excise laws.
Mohit Reddy had approached the Supreme Court after the Andhra Pradesh High Court declined to grant him protection from arrest.
With this order, the YSRCP leader has secured temporary relief from coercive action while the investigation continues.
On Tuesday, the state high court dismissed Mohit Reddy’s anticipatory bail petition in the alleged liquor scam case, being probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Andhra police.
The SIT alleged that Mohit Reddy had misused his official position as Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) chairman and used official vehicles for the transportation of ill-gotten money from the liquor scam.
Mohit Reddy moved the high court seeking anticipatory bail, arguing that the case was politically motivated and that there was no prima facie evidence other than the statements of the co-accused in the case, suggesting his alleged involvement.
Senior counsel Siddharth Luthra, who appeared for the SIT, argued that Mohit Reddy used his official vehicle to transport and distribute money received as kickbacks from the liquor suppliers.
He stated that contrary to the entry in the logbook on certain dates, which claimed that his vehicle was in and around Tirupati, his vehicle went to Hyderabad.
He said that his official vehicle registration number was recorded at the toll plazas en route to Hyderabad.
Luthra further argued that Mohit, his father Bhaskar Reddy, and some of his family members became partners in several companies after 2021.
He said that a huge amount of money was deposited into the account of one of the infra companies owned by the father-son duo, which the SIT suspects as the proceeds of crime.
He said that custodial interrogation of Mohit is required in the case to clarify the suspicious money transactions and pleaded not to grant anticipatory bail.
