The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, has upheld the two-year sentence imposed on Sidharth Reddy in connection with the death of Telugu/Tamil actress Pratyusha, dismissing his challenge to the High Court judgment, which had convicted him for abetment to suicide. A Bench of Justice Manoj Mishra and Justice Manmohan affirmed the 2011 verdict of the High Court, which had reduced Reddy’s five-year jail term to two years and imposed a fine of ₹50,000.

The case dates back to 2004, when police registered Pratyusha’s death as a murder case and conducted an investigation. Following the trial, the court concluded that the evidence did not support a charge of murder but established abetment to suicide, sentencing Reddy to five years’ imprisonment along with a fine. Reddy subsequently challenged the conviction before the High Court. In 2011, the High Court partly allowed his appeal, reducing the sentence from five years to two years while maintaining the conviction and imposing a fine of ₹50,000. This led to an appeal before the Supreme Court.

After hearing the matter, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition and upheld the High Court’s decision. The Bench ruled out murder by strangulation, holding that the overwhelming ocular and medical evidence established death due to poisoning and not murder. The Court also found that the offence of rape against the accused was not made out, and it was too late to raise such allegations.

While rejecting the defence that the death was accidental, the Court upheld the conviction for abetment to suicide. The Bench directed that Reddy surrender within four weeks.