Earlier this month, the special court judge Bhaskara Rao closed the case against Naidu relating to alleged irregularities in the grant of permission for distilleries between 2014 and 2019.
Published Dec 15, 2025 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 15, 2025 | 8:00 AM
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Synopsis: The Andhra Pradesh CID and the ED are expected to file a report before a Special Court for ACB cases stating that no evidence exists to support Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s involvement in the multi-crore skill development scam alleged to have taken place during his previous tenure. The filing would almost certainly mean the closure of the case against him, the second such instance this month alone.
In yet another case that is bound to raise questions about the conduct of investigating agencies in the country, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is likely to be cleared in the multi-crore skill development scandal that rocked the State a couple of years ago.
On 9 September 2023, months before the general elections in the State, Naidu, then the Opposition Leader, was arrested in a case relating to the alleged misappropriation and laundering of funds meant for the establishment of skilling centres. The scam was estimated at ₹330 crore.
The Crime Investigation Department (CID) had alleged that Naidu, as Chief Minister during his earlier term between 2014 and 2019, in collusion with IAS officers, facilitated government funds being routed to private firms, which then channelled the money through multiple transactions and eventually converted it into cash.
After spending over 50 days in jail, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief was granted bail in November of that year. He subsequently returned as Chief Minister for a second term after the general elections held in May 2024.
Now, according to highly placed sources, the CID as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are expected to file a report before the Special Court for Anti Corruption Bureau cases in Vijayawada stating that there is no direct evidence of Naidu’s involvement in the scam.
In other words, the prosecution is likely to say that it does not intend to proceed against him.
Curiously, in a press release issued in October 2024, the ED named several accused, including representatives of Designtech Systems Pvt Ltd (DTSPL), the company awarded the contract for skill development, accusing them of cheating the government through multi-layered transactions, using bogus invoices and siphoning off funds.
The release, however, was silent on Naidu, who was by then the Chief Minister. The ED had taken up the case on the basis of the FIR filed by the CID in 2023.
Once the CID and the ED file a report stating that Naidu had no role to play, the Special Court is more than likely to close the case against the Chief Minister.
Earlier this month, the special court judge, Bhaskara Rao, closed another case against Naidu. This related to alleged irregularities in the grant of permission for distilleries between 2014 and 2019.
In that case too, the CID filed a report saying it could not find any evidence against Naidu. The same agency had earlier accused him of causing a loss of ₹1,000 crore to the exchequer by extending favours to promoters of distilleries.
Interestingly, the cases coming up before the special court and the orders being passed have led to questions being raised in judicial and political circles.
In September this year, the same judge granted default bail to three main accused in the liquor case filed by the Naidu government against key officials of the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
The three were IAS officer K Dhanunjay Reddy, who served in the Chief Minister’s Office during the previous regime, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Officer on Special Duty, P Krishna Mohan Reddy, and Balaji Govindappa, a Director in Bharati Cements owned by Jagan’s family.
The three, along with several others, were charged with designing a policy conducive to taking bribes, which allegedly totalled over ₹3,000 crore.
The officials were arrested in May 2025 and spent over three months in prison before being granted default bail. The High Court subsequently suspended the bail, following which the accused approached the Supreme Court.
Soon after judge Bhaskara Rao granted bail to the officials on 7 September, he came under attack from purported sympathisers of the ruling TDP on social media.
By 1 December, the same judge began closing cases against Naidu.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
