Set back to Chandrababu Naidu: Andhra HC dismisses quash petition

Amaravati: In a huge setback for TDP, the AP High Court has dismissed the quash petition of Chandrababu Naidu challenging the FIR and judicial remand in Skill Development Scam case.

The Single bench judge, Justice K. Srinivas Reddy noted that, at this stage, where the investigation is on fulcrum of attaining finalty, this Court is not inclined to interfere with the impugned proceedings. Hence the quash petition on FIR and Judicial remand is devoid of merit and is, accordingly, dismissed.

Following Chandrababu Naidu's arrest in the Skill Development Scam in the wee hours of September 9th, he was submitted in the ACB court on September 10th. After arguments form both sides, the ACB court Judge Hima Bindu, pronounced a 14-day judicial remand to Chandra Babu Naidu, sending him to the Rajhamundry central jail until September 22nd.

Later, the CBN's legal team sought house arrest for Chandrababu Naidu, citing security and health concerns at Rajhamundry central jail. However, the ACB court declined the request and directed the Rajhamundry jail authorities to allocate a special care, while also permitting home-cooked meals.

With no immediate relief in sight, Chandrababu Naidu's legal team approached the High Court on September 12th, seeking the quash of the FIR and judicial remand.

Hearing the case on 19th in the Single bench judge, Justice K. Srinivas Reddy in AP High Court, Senior advocates appearing for CBN, Harish Salve and Siddarth Luthra had argued that no money trail to CBN had been traced yet and also the governor's approval for his arrest, as mentioned in Section 17(A)(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) 2018, hadn't been sought in this case.

While former Attorney General Mukul Rastogi, Advocate Ranjith Kumar, and Andhra Pradesh Advocate Additional General P Sudhakar Reddy defended on behalf of the state, saying that "Section 17A is to protect innocent servants, who have taken decisions for public benefit. Argument on Section 17A is completely misconceived. Prima facie, 17A has no bearing. State exchequer has been misused. 17A on the face of it does not apply. The case is completely nascent; investigation cannot be completed in 10 days, especially when petitioner has applied for bail."

After hearing the arguments for nearly five hours the single bench HC Judge, Justice K Sreenivas Reddy has reserved the judgement for September 21.

But, it has been rescheduled for 22 September today. Where in its judgement today, the Justice K. Srinivas Reddy has withheld the FIR of AP CID and Remand of ACB Court. In the report, the Justice noted that, the court cannot interfere in the early stage of investigation, especially when the finality is yet to arrive. Hence the petetion of Chandra Babu Naidu has been dismissed.

However, highly placed sources from the TDP, speaking to The NewsMeter, confirmed that, they will challenge the HC order in the Supreme Court on Monday.

Meanwhile, former Congress MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar has filed a PIL in the AP High Court seeking the transfer of the Skill Development Scam case from AP CID to CBI. He cited a few cases with inter-state ramifications in political cases of Assam, West Bengal, and Odisha, which caused delays in investigations. He termed state agencies as handicapped, and suggested that central agencies like CBI should be considered.

The ACB court, presided over by Justice Hima Bindu, has granted the AP CID permission to take Chandrababu into custody for a two-day period. The judge has directed the AP CID to conduct an investigation of Chandrababu Naidu in the Rajahmundry jail. Earlier today, the judge extended the judicial remand of 14 days, which was set to conclude today, to an additional two days, until the 24th.