In a crucial development in the politically sensitive murder case of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy, the CBI court ruled on Thursday that Dastagiri, who is an accused, will be considered as a witness only. To this extent, the CBI court has issued an order allowing the petition filed by Dastagiri and removing his name from the list of accused.
Dastagiri is the 4th accused in the YS Viveka murder case. Judge Dr. T Raghuram heard the petition filed by Sheikh Dastagiri asking him to be removed from the list of accused and to be considered as a witness. The petitioner’s counsel told the court that Dastagiri, who is the 4th accused, was named as the 110th witness in the list of witnesses.
He said that it is not appropriate to include a person who is a witness in the list of accused. He reminded that the court granted amnesty after Dastagiri became an approver. He said that the High Court and the Supreme Court have also rejected the petitions filed by other accused challenging this.
Therefore, he asked to be removed from the list of accused. Moreover, the counsel for CBI told the court that Dastagiri has become an approver and therefore has been considered as a witness. He said that there is no objection to removing him from the list of accused.
The CBI court agreed with these arguments and allowed Dastagiri’s petition. Dastagiri’s name was ordered to be removed from the list of accused.
Meanwhile, the lawyers on behalf of the other accused objected to this and said that the same court should not review the orders issued once taking cognizance, and also that there are two petitions pending in the High Court challenging the amnesty granted to the accused, therefore Dastagiri’s petition should be dismissed. The CBI court rejected these arguments.