A. P. Skill Development Scam: Chandrababu Naidu Moves HC for Bail and Quashing of Case

After a Vijayawada Court in Andhra Pradesh rejected a house custody petition filed by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday, his legal team has filed two pleas in the High Court. One plea seeks the quashing of the case, while the other requests bail. These pleas are expected to be heard today.

The former chief minister was arrested due to his alleged involvement in a multi-crore Skill Development Corporation scam. Currently, he is incarcerated at the Rajamahendravaram central prison after the Vijayawada court remanded Naidu in judicial custody for 14 days on Sunday.

On Monday, a team of lawyers, led by senior counsel Siddharth Luthra, representing Naidu, filed a petition seeking house custody for the former CM, citing concerns about his safety. It’s worth noting that Naidu has held Z-plus category security protection for several years, with a team of NSG commandos continuously guarding him.

However, the court declined the request for house arrest, citing security concerns. Jayakar Matta, Naidu’s lawyer, stated that the court believed that Z-plus security could not be provided under house arrest, making jail a safer option for Naidu rather than staying at home under house custody.

Furthermore, the court mentioned that it would have considered house custody if it were possible to provide Z-plus security to Naidu within his residence.

Meanwhile, Naidu’s wife, Nara Bhuvaneswari, visited him in prison on Tuesday and expressed her concerns about his security while in confinement. She said, “I am apprehensive about his security. I have not seen any facilities. He had to bathe with cold water.” She also mentioned that her husband’s arrest has put their family through tough times.

In court, the CID’s legal team argued that they had taken several steps in compliance with the court’s orders, including creating a separate and exclusive ward for Naidu, providing special security cover, implementing round-the-clock monitoring, video surveillance, and having a medical team on standby, among others.

They emphasized that Naidu’s ward had been isolated from the main prison block to ensure a sanitized area, especially considering his special security requirements. Additional precautions were taken, such as deploying armed guards outside the special ward. Strict access controls were also put in place, and visits to Naidu require his prior consent.

The CID lawyers informed the court that senior prison officials, led by the superintendent of the Rajamahendravaram central prison, were present round-the-clock for personal supervision of security and other arrangements. They assured the court that they were fully complying with all its directives.

Naidu’s arrest is related to a fraud case involving the misappropriation of funds from the Skill Development Corporation, resulting in a loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state government, according to AP CID Chief N Sanjay’s statement after the arrest.