Dr Narreddy Sunita, daughter of slain former Andhra Pradesh minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy, is contemplating filing an appeal before the Telangana high court challenging a recent order passed by the CBI special court in Hyderabad restricting the CBI investigation into her father’s murder case to a specific issue.
Last week, the CBI special court at Nampally directed the investigating agency to confine further probe only to a specific aspect — the exchange of messages and the alleged role involving Kiran Yadav, brother of second accused Sunil Yadav, and Arjun Reddy, grandson of seventh accused Y S Bhaskar Reddy.
The court also instructed the CBI to complete this limited investigation and file a supplementary chargesheet within one month.
Though the order was pronounced on December 10, the certified copy of the judgment was made available on Tuesday.
Following this, Sunita Reddy is reportedly examining legal options to challenge the order, arguing that the court exceeded its jurisdiction by restricting the scope of investigation.
Legal experts point out that while a court may decide whether further investigation is required, it cannot dictate how an investigating agency should conduct the probe or restrict it to specific aspects.
They cite the earlier instance in the same case where the Telangana high court had directed the CBI to provide questions in writing to Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy (A-8).
That order was later strongly criticised by the Supreme Court, with then Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud clearly stating that courts should not interfere in the manner of investigation.
In her earlier petition, Sunita Reddy had highlighted multiple issues warranting further investigation, including alleged threats made to approver Dastagiri by Chaitanya Reddy, son of fifth accused Devireddi Shivashankar Reddy, inside Kadapa jail.
She also pointed out to alleged attempts to foist counter-cases against Sunita Reddy, her husband Rajashekar Reddy, and CBI officer Ram Singh; and questions raised by former Chief Secretary Ajeya Kallam’s statement on how Y S Bharathi and former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy reportedly came to know about the murder as early as 5.30 am. She has also sought investigation into the alleged financial trail linked to the crime.
With the special court limiting the investigation to a single issue, Sunita Reddy is now contemplating approaching the high court, questioning whether the CBI court has the authority to curb the investigation after acknowledging the need for further probe.
Sources say she is currently consulting her legal team on the appeal.