The Telangana High Court postponed the hearing on Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy’s anticipatory bail petition to Friday. The court decided to take up the case on Friday as the first case since it was brought towards the end of the working hours. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel said it would take about an hour to submit their arguments. The court adjourned the hearing after learning that it would depend on the arguments put forth by other parties.
The Supreme Court expressed its dissatisfaction with the Telangana High Court’s delay in deciding on Avinash Reddy’s anticipatory bail petition on Tuesday. The high court directed a vacation bench to take up the matter on Thursday. Meanwhile, Avinash Reddy stayed at Viswabharati Hospital, where his mother was undergoing treatment for a heart ailment. He wrote to the CBI seeking exemption from appearance until May 27 due to his mother’s condition.
The MP did not appear before the CBI on May 16 and May 19 in Hyderabad. On May 16, he cited prior fixed official engagements in Pulivendula and asked for four days’ time. On May 19, he informed the CBI that he would not be able to appear before it as his mother was ill. The MP went to his hometown Pulivendula in Kadapa district and admitted his mother to a Kurnool hospital. Since then, he has been staying at the hospital.
Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and uncle of Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, weeks before the elections.