Jagan government wants Chandrababu Naidu’s bail cancelled, appeals to SC ahead of Andhra polls

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh CID files chargesheet against TDP chief Chandrababu in FiberNet case

Andhra Pradesh government’s arguments

During the hearing on Monday, 26 February, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Andhra Pradesh government, advocated for the cancellation of Naidu’s bail, citing that Naidu’s family openly declared intentions to take action against the officers involved in the investigation and those who provided statements when they assume power.

In response to Rohatgi’s plea, senior Advocate Harish Salve representing Naidu, requested additional time to prepare a response to the state government’s allegations.

The bench granted a two-week extension for the respondents to submit their reply and allowed the petitioner-state to file a rejoinder if necessary. The proceedings were adjourned to March 19 for the next hearing.

Regular bail to Naidu

The Andhra Pradesh government on 21 November, filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court, challenging the state high court granting bail to former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the multi-crore skill development scam.

The Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) approached the top court after the high court had granted him regular bail on 20 November. Earlier, the TDP leader was granted bail for 28 days on health grounds on 31 October.

A single bench judge of the high court, Justice T Mallikarjuna, had granted both bails to Naidu.

In its SLP, the Andhra Pradesh government had argued that the high court had, in the bail matter, “delved deeply into the case’s facts and rendered findings that are not only factually incorrect but also likely to prejudice the court below during the trial”.

The petition highlighted eight paragraphs from the order, emphasising the high court’s observation that “the petitioner cannot be held responsible for every sub-contractor’s evasion”.

Quoting the Sangitaben Shaileshbhai Datanta vs. the State of Gujarat (2019) case, the petition referred to the Supreme Court’s statement: “The court must not undertake a meticulous examination of the evidence collected by the police, or rather order specific tests as done in the present case.”

Meanwhile, Naidu’s plea to quash the FIR in the Skill Development scam case against him has been referred by the Supreme Court, on 16 January, to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for consideration by a larger bench.

The two-judge apex court bench led by Justice Bose and M Trivedi was divided over the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, amended in 2018.

Also Read: Andhra CID files chargesheet against Chandrababu Naidu in IRR case

The background

TDP chief Naidu was arrested on 9 September by the Andhra Pradesh CID in the ₹371 crore AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam. On 10 September, he was sent to judicial remand until 31 October. He was granted bail on 31 October for undergoing cataract surgery on his right eye.

Initially, Naidu’s bail petition was rejected by the Vijayawada Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court, prompting him to approach the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The quash petition for the skill development scam case FIR was quashed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court and is awaiting a verdict in the Supreme Court, expected this week.

Naidu faces six cases filed by the YSRCP regime: Apart from the skill development case, there are the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case, the AP Fibernet case, Punganur violence case, the state sand policy case, and the liquor policy case.

On 16 February, a week after filing a chargesheet against Chandrababu Naidu in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case, the state’s Crime Investigation Department (APCID) also filed a fresh chargesheet in the FiberNet case in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court Vijayawada.