In the murder case of YS Vivekananda Reddy, former Lok Sabha Member of Parliament, (Andhra Pradesh), the Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred the trial of his murder case to a Special Court of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Hyderabad.
The plea was filed by Suneetha Narreddy, daughter of YS Vivekananda Reddy seeking directions to the CBI to speed up the investigation into the murder case of her Father and transfer the case to the Special CBI Court.
A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and MR Shah was hearing a plea filed by Suneetha Narreddy, seeking a transfer of investigation into her father’s murder. While ordering the transfer of the case, it stated-
“By Considering the facts and circumstances, it cannot be said that the apprehension of the petitioner that there may not be a fair trial or that there is a larger conspiracy and destruction of evidence at the scene of the crime, is imaginary. The petitioner being the daughter of the deceased has a fundamental right to get justice.”
The Court further said that this is a fit case to transfer to a State other than the State of Andhra Pradesh, as justice need not only to be done but also seen to be done. Criminal trial, if biased, criminal justice will be at stake.”
At the same time looking into a large number of witnesses to be examined during the trial and no hardship is caused to those witnesses, we are of the opinion that the trial is transferred to CBI Special Court Hyderabad.
All relevant papers such as charge sheets and supplementary charge sheets are to be transferred to CBI Court Hyderabad. The court further directed the CBI to complete the further investigation into the larger conspiracy and destruction of evidence at the earliest. It must be done independently and in an unbiased manner.
YS Vivekananda Reddy, who was part of the Indian National Congress, left the party to join the YSR Congress party headed by his brother and former AP Chief Minister YS Rajashekara Reddy. He served as Agriculture Minister for the State government.
In March 2019, he was stabbed to death at his residence in Kadapa. In 2020, the Andhra Pradesh High Court transferred the investigation into the murder to the CBI.
