Chandrababu Naidu
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court postponed the hearing on a plea filed by TDP (Telugu Desam Party) leader N Chandrababu Naidu. He was challenging an order from the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which had rejected his request to quash an FIR (First Information Report) against him in the Skill Development Corporation scam case. The hearing has been rescheduled for October 9th.
A bench consisting of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi instructed senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Andhra Pradesh government, to provide all the materials that were presented before the high court concerning the case.
Rohatgi argued that Naidu’s plea to quash the FIR should be dismissed because the issue of section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act does not apply. He pointed out that this provision was introduced in July 2018, while the investigation into the case had begun in 2017 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Senior advocates Harish Salve, Abhisehk Singhvi, and Siddharth Luthra, who represented Naidu, contended that all the allegations in the FIR were related to decisions, instructions, or recommendations made by Naidu during his tenure as the chief minister of the state. They argued that this was essentially a political case and that the provisions of section 17A should apply.
Luthra further asserted that Naidu was being implicated in multiple FIRs, suggesting that it was a clear case of a change in government.
The bench decided to take up the matter again on the following Monday.
N Chandrababu Naidu, aged 73, had been arrested on September 9 on charges of misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation during his tenure as chief minister in 2015. The alleged misappropriation was claimed to have caused a loss of ₹371 crore to the state exchequer. His judicial remand had been extended by the trial court until October 5.
The CID (Criminal Investigation Department), in its remand report, accused Naidu of engaging in a criminal conspiracy with the intent to fraudulently misappropriate government funds for personal use, disposing of property under the control of a public servant, and engaging in cheating, document forgery, and evidence destruction.
N Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party, had approached the Supreme Court on September 23, challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision to reject his plea to quash the FIR in connection with the alleged scam.
