Earlier this month, Special Court Judge Bhaskara Rao closed another case against Naidu, relating to alleged irregularities in the grant of permissions to distilleries between 2014 and 2019.
Published Dec 29, 2025 | 5:28 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 29, 2025 | 5:29 PM
Naidu was accused of facilitating misappropriation and laundering of funds earmarked for the establishment of skilling centres.
Synopsis: The Andhra Pradesh CID has issued a formal notice stating that it does not intend to continue proceedings against CM N Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development case. This effectively brings to an end a nearly two-year-old corruption case in which Naidu, during his earlier term as CM, was accused of facilitating the misappropriation of ₹330 crore in government funds. The case is the second such corruption case against Naidu to be shut this month.
It is now official.
Yet another corruption case registered against Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, is being closed.
The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) has issued a notice stating its intention to close the case filed against the Telugu Desam Party chief during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy regime, in what has come to be known as the skill development scam, on the grounds that “it was a mistake of fact”.
The notice, dated 19 December 2025, was sent—as mandated by law—to Nallaparaju Bangara Raju, the former managing director of the AP State Skill Development Corporation. Days earlier, on 15 December, South First had reported that the agency was likely to drop the case.
Months before the 2024 general elections in the State, on 9 September 2023, Naidu—then the Leader of the Opposition—was arrested in connection with the alleged misappropriation and laundering of funds earmarked for the establishment of skilling centres.
The scam was estimated at ₹330 crore. He was later released on bail.
The CID had alleged that Naidu, as Chief Minister during his earlier term between 2014 and 2019, had, in collusion with IAS officers, facilitated the routing of government funds to private firms, which then channelled the money through multiple transactions before eventually converting it into cash.
As per procedure, the CID, as the investigating agency, is required to inform the court—in this case, the special court for ACB cases in Vijayawada—whether a case is made out against the accused. If the police conclude that they do not intend to proceed further, a notice must be issued to the original complainant conveying this decision.
The complainant has the option of challenging the police finding by filing a protest petition before the court. Independently, the court also has the power to reject the police petition and allow the trial to continue.
Neither is likely in the present case. Raju, a government official and the formal complainant, did not file any objection to the police notice within the stipulated one-week period. The judge, too, is expected to accept the police petition and close the case.
In a press statement issued in October 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) named several accused, including representatives of Designtech Systems Pvt Ltd (DTSPL)—the company awarded the skill development contract—accusing them of cheating the government through multi-layered transactions, the use of bogus invoices, and the siphoning off of funds.
The release, however, was silent on Naidu, who by then had returned as Chief Minister.
Whether the CID will close the case against all the accused or only Naidu remains to be seen. Earlier this month, Special Court Judge Bhaskara Rao closed another case against Naidu, relating to alleged irregularities in the grant of permissions to distilleries between 2014 and 2019.
In that case too, the CID filed a report stating that it could find no 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 distillery promoters.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
