Chandrababu moves HC for bail; Vijayawada court rejects house custody plea

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu has moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court against the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court order remanding him to 14 days judicial custody in the skill development programme scam case. The case will be heard on Wednesday, September 13.

This comes after local court in Vijayawada on Tuesday rejected a house custody petition filed by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and is currently lodged at Rajamahendravaram Central Prison in judicial custody for 14 days.

On Monday, Naidu’s lawyer, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, had filed a petition to grant house custody for the former CM citing threat perception. Naidu is a Z-plus category security protectee. He said that until now Naidu had the protection of the National Security Guard (NSG) but in the central prison, the security might not be adequate. Additional Advocate General P Sudhakar Reddy, appearing for the CID, countered that Naidu would be safer in jail than outside.

In his plea challenging the CID's remand report against him, Naidu asserted that he had been falsely implicated in the case. He also claimed that there was a clear violation of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Section 17A stipulates that it is mandatory for a police officer to seek prior approval for conducting any enquiry or inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant while discharging their official duty.

ACB court special judge B Satya Venkata Hima Bindu allotted a special room to Naidu as he was the Opposition leader in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. The judge also allowed home-cooked food and medicines to be supplied from outside.

Naidu was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) during the early hours of Saturday, September 9 at Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh in connection with the Skill Development Corporation corruption case.

Naidu was camping in a caravan at Nandyal for the night after addressing a huge public meeting in the town, where he had criticised chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government for its alleged corruption.

Meanwhile, the CID filed a petition seeking Naidu’s custody for five days for further interrogation. The investigation agency also filed another petition in the ACB court for a prisoner transit (PT) warrant to question Naidu in the under-investigation Amaravati Inner Ring Road scam.