TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu fails to get relief in SC

In a recent development, the Supreme Court didn’t grant any immediate relief to Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, in the multi-crore skill development scam case. Instead, they extended his stay in jail for another six days.

The Supreme Court stated that it would issue a notice and continue hearing Naidu’s request to quash the FIR (First Information Report) on the following Monday. The bench, comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi, requested senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who represents the Andhra Pradesh government, to provide all the documents presented to the high court related to this case.

Rohatgi argued that Naidu’s plea to quash the FIR should be rejected because the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act does not apply here, as this provision was introduced in July 2018, while the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began in 2017.

On the other hand, senior advocates Harish Salve, Abhishek Singhvi, and Siddharth Luthra, representing Naidu, argued that all the allegations in the FIR are related to decisions, instructions, or recommendations made by Naidu during his tenure as the state’s chief minister.

They claimed that this is essentially a political case, and Section 17A should be considered in this matter. Luthra pointed out that Naidu is facing multiple FIRs, indicating a potential political agenda.

A week ago, Chandrababu Naidu had approached the Supreme Court after the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed his petition to quash the FIR filed against him in a corruption case related to skill development, which involved Rs 371 crore. The high court had stated that it couldn’t interfere with the ongoing investigation, which was in its final stages.

Currently, Chandrababu Naidu, aged 73, is in custody at the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had questioned him in connection with this case. He was arrested by the CID on September 9 on allegations of misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation. The CID’s remand report also accused Naidu of being involved in a criminal conspiracy to misappropriate government funds, dispose of public property, engage in cheating, forge documents, and destroy evidence.