Supreme Court To Hear On February 26 Andhra Pradesh Govt's Plea Opposing Regular Bail Granted To Chandrababu Naidu In Skill Development Scam Case

Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Telugu Desam Party president and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh chief minister, has been arrested in connection with a skill development scam in the state, with the state crime investigation department claiming to have prime facie evidence of the former chief minister's key role in the alleged embezzlement of around Rs 371 crore from the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation through fictitious companies during the TDP's rule between 2014 and 2019. He is the 37th accused in a 2021 FIR related to the multi-crore scam involving the state skill development corporation.

The opposition Telugu Desam Party leader was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh CID on September 9. In the same month, the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed Naidu's plea for quashing of the FIR. In his petition, he argued that the trial court's order remanding him to custody did not consider that the CID had failed to obtain prior approval from the governor, as required by Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. However, a bench of Justice K Sreenivas Reddy ruled that 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. The court also agreed that given the seriousness of economic offences, the investigation should not be hindered, especially at this early stage. Challenging this ruling, the TDP leader approached the Supreme Court in a special leave petition. The hearing has been concluded and the matter has been reserved for judgment.

Naidu was in custody till he was granted interim medical bail by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in October last year. Later, he was granted regular bail by the single-judge bench in November. Justice T Mallikarjun Rao stated that, based on the available material, it could not be definitively concluded that the misappropriated amounts were diverted to TDP's bank accounts. The court also noted that Naidu couldn't be held responsible for the discrepancies highlighted in the Forensic Audit report, which indicated that out of the Rs 371 crores, at least Rs 241 crores were misappropriated by SISW and Design Tech, diverted to various shell companies. In an interim order, the high court had imposed restrictions on Naidu from giving press interviews or making public comments related to the case. However, while granting bail, the court refused to continue these restrictions, stating that imposing such conditions could impact the electoral prospects of his political party.

Naidu faces charges in three other alleged scams—the FiberNet scam, the IRR alignment scam, and the liquor scam. The top court is also hearing Naidu's plea against the high court declining his request for anticipatory bail in the FiberNet scam case. The hearing in this case was adjourned to await the decision in the TDP supremo's quash petition in the skill development case.