In a sort of shock to the Central Bureau of Investigation in the probe into the murder of former Andhra Pradesh minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy, the Supreme Court on Monday sought to know whether it still required to do further probe into the case.
The Supreme Court, which heard the petitions filed by the CBI and Sunitha Reddy seeking cancellation of bail granted to Kadapa MP Y S Avinash Reddy, one of the accused in the case, made significant observations.
The court posed three key questions to assess whether the CBI is genuinely serious about investigating the case further. It stated that it would consider the bail cancellation request only after receiving proper answers to these questions:
The three questions are:
1. Does the CBI believe further investigation is still necessary in the Vivekananda Reddy murder case?
2. What is the CBI’s opinion on the closure report filed by the Andhra Pradesh government in the Kadapa sessions court?
3. Can the trial and further investigation in the case proceed simultaneously?
The Supreme Court directed the CBI to respond on these points before it takes up the bail cancellation petition against Avinash Reddy.
Previously, the Telangana high court had granted bail to Avinash Reddy and other accused in the case. The CBI and Sunitha Reddy challenged this verdict in the Supreme Court.
The matter came up before the Supreme Court bench led by Justice M M Sundresh. Senior counsel Siddharth Luthra, representing Sunitha, argued that the accused, including Avinash, were influencing witnesses.
Luthra also urged the court to consider the closure report filed by the AP government in the case involving CBI officer Ram Singh and the Sunitha couple.
He said the report indicated that the case was filed under instructions from Avinash Reddy, and this should be grounds for cancelling his bail.
However, the Supreme Court maintained that it would take a decision on the bail cancellation only after the CBI answers the three key questions posed to it.
