In a significant legal setback for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the Vijayawada ACB Court, on October 10, dismissed his bail petition related to the Skill Development Corporation scam case. Concurrently, the court also turned down the CID’s plea seeking an extension of Naidu’s custody for another five days for further questioning.
During the proceedings, the CID, which had interrogated Naidu in Rajahmundry Central Jail on September 23 and 24, asserted that he had been uncooperative. Representing Naidu, Supreme Court lawyer Pramod Kumar Dubey countered,
“The CID had failed to obtain prior approval from the governor, as required by Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.” However, Justice K Sreenivas Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled, “Prior sanction from the competent authority was unnecessary for the investigation since the use of public funds, allegedly for personal gain, did not constitute an act in the discharge of official duties.”
Furthermore, the ACB court initiated hearings on Prisoner Transit (PT) warrants issued by the CID against Naidu in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road alignment and AP FiberNet scam cases. The hearing has been adjourned to the subsequent Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had dismissed three of Naidu’s anticipatory bail petitions in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road, FiberNet, and the Angallu violence cases. Explaining the denial of anticipatory bail in the Inner Ring Road case, the court remarked that the investigation was still in its early stages.
Post his arrest on September 9 in connection with the alleged multi-crore Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation scam from his 2014-19 tenure, Naidu was first remanded to a 14-day judicial custody on September 10 by the ACB court in Vijayawada. Subsequently, he was transferred to Rajahmundry Central Jail. On October 5, the ACB court extended his remand in the alleged scam case until October 19.
Challenging the recent rulings, the TDP leader is expected to approach the Andhra Pradesh High Court for bail.
