AP High Court dismisses Lokesh anticipatory bail plea in IRR case; CID team reaches Delhi to serve him notice

Meanwhile, the high court posted Lokesh’s anticipatory bail petition in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam and Fibrenet scam to 4 October, and his father’s anticipatory bail petition in the IRR alignment case to 3 October.

However, the court gave interim orders asking the CID not to arrest him till 4 October in the APSSDC scam.

Related: What CID said in its memo on alleged Amaravati IRR scam

Rumours of arrest

Even though the Andhra Pradesh Additional Advocate General told the court that Lokesh would be served a notice under Section 41A, to question him, rumours are afloat that he would be arrested soon.

The judge said that since there was no question of arrest under 41A notices, the anticipatory bail petition was being disposed of.

The CID is expected to serve Lokesh the notice in New Delhi on Friday. The court also asked Lokesh to cooperate with the investigation team.

Lokesh has been in New Delhi since 14 September and is reportedly meeting with eminent lawyers and senior politicians after the arrest of his father and former chief minister Naidu from Nadyal on 9 September in the ₹370 crore APSSDC scam.

The CID, which is also probing the irregularities committed to make changes to the alignment of Amaravati capital IRR, filed a memo naming Lokesh as an accused in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court in Vijayawada on 26 September.

Also read: Is Nara Lokesh’s arrest imminent? Yes it is, contends YSRCP

Allegations by CID

The CID has alleged that Lokesh played a crucial role in trying to make changes to the alignment of the inner ring road to benefit certain people.

He was also facing allegations of helping industrialist Lingamaneni Ramesh’s family in the capital region. Ramesh is A3 in this case.

The names of Naidu and former municipal administration minister P Narayana, along with other private individuals and companies, were also mentioned in the case.

Chandrababu Naidu and Narayana’s names were included in the case as they played a key role in designing the Master Plan and accordingly tried to make changes to the alignment of the Amaravati IRR.

Also read: TDP chief Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh is A14 in Amaravati IRR case

Based on a complaint lodged by the YSRCP MLA A Ramakrishna Reddy, the CID registered the case against them in 2022 for allegedly committing illegal activities pertaining to the capital city — Amaravati — within a few months of coming to power in 2014, which continued till 2019.

Reddy alleged that the then ruling party leaders, including Chandrababu Naidu, Narayana and others designed the master plan for the Andhra Pradesh Capital and alignment of the IRR.

The case was booked under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also under provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act-1988. It was alleged that Chandrababu Naidu, who was also an ex-officio Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA), and others have alienated assigned lands in the capital region.

Lokesh’s anticipatory bail petition in other cases

In another related development, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday posted the matter related to a petition filed by Lokesh seeking anticipatory bail in the APSSDC scam and Fibrenet scam cases to 4 October.

It posted the matter while responding to a lunch motion petition filed by Lokesh’s advocates. The court gave interim orders asking the CID not to arrest him till 4 October in the skill development corporation scam.

In another development, the high court posted a petition filed by Naidu seeking anticipatory bail in the IRR alignment case to 3 October.

Two days ago, Naidu’s advocates submitted their arguments virtually to the court and later the prosecution continued their arguments.