Hyderabad, September 22: In a significant setback for former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has dismissed his petition seeking the quashing of the FIR filed against him in a skill development case and the setting aside of his judicial remand.
The high court, which had reserved its orders on Wednesday, delivered its decision on Friday, shortly after a Vijayawada Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court extended Naidu’s judicial custody until September 24.
A single bench of Justice Sreenivas Reddy did not concur with the arguments put forth by the counsels representing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief, who were challenging his arrest and judicial remand, alleging that the case against Naidu was politically motivated.
Harish Salve, representing Naidu, argued that the Crime Investigation Department (CID) had failed to obtain prior permission from the Governor, as required under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, before arresting Naidu.
In response, Mukul Rohatgi, who argued on behalf of the CID, contended that Section 17A of the PC Act did not apply, as the CID investigation had commenced before the amendment of July 26, 2018.
Naidu was arrested by the CID in Nandyal on September 9 in connection with the case. The following day, the ACB Court in Vijayawada remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days. Subsequently, the former chief minister was transferred to Rajahmundry Central Jail.
The Vijayawada Court had also rejected Naidu’s request for house custody in lieu of judicial custody.
The case revolves around the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3,300 crore during Naidu’s tenure as chief minister.
The CID alleges that the purported fraud resulted in a significant loss of Rs 371 crore to the state government. According to the agency, an advance of Rs 371 crore, representing the entire 10 percent government commitment for the project, was disbursed before any expenditure by the private entities.
The CID asserts that the majority of the funds released by the government as an advance were diverted to shell companies through fraudulent invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of the items listed in the invoices, according to CID officials.
The CID’s remand report notes that the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters came exclusively from funds advanced by the state government and the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Centre, amounting to Rs 371 crore.