Published Nov 18, 2022 | 5:27 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 18, 2022 | 5:27 PM
TDP chief and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu showing a TDP flag soaked with his supporter's blood at a roadshow in Kuppam on 25 August. (iTDP_Official/Twitter)
If the Supreme Court overturns the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s stay on a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged Amaravati land scam, Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu will be in hot water.
While the final order has been reserved for next week, the Supreme Court on Thursday, 17 November, said that the questionable acts of the preceding government, including irregularities resulting in loss to the exchequer, often surface when a succeeding government, in order to settle political scores, orders a probe. The court described this as a usual thing rooted in political rivalries.
If the apex court lifts the stay and the SIT begins the probe, it will turn into a headache for Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh as the political heat is already up in the state, a good one-and-a-half years before the elections slated for 2024. In fact, Lokesh is gearing up to launch a padayatra in January.
The court spoke of political rivalries bringing out the truth while making a reference to an earlier top court judgment in the late Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal’s case.
The top court bench comprising Justice MR Shah and Justice MM Sundresh reserved the order on the Andhra Pradesh government’s appeal against the 16 September, 2020, high court order staying all proceedings by the Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC) and the SIT. The CSC was set up by the Andhra Pradesh government on 26 September, 2019, and the SIT on 21 February, 2020.
The top court’s observation on the “truth” emerging from political rivalries came when senior advocate Sidharth Dave, appearing for the respondent Varla Ramaiah, told the court that the setting up a fact-finding CSC was a “malafide and biased” exercise of the power to target the earlier government headed by Naidu.
