SC to hear AP's plea against bail to TDP chief Naidu on 7 May

The Supreme Court will hear on 7 May a plea filed by the Andhra Pradesh government challenging a high court order granting regular bail to TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development corporation scam case.

The petition came up for hearing on Tuesday, 16 April before a bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal which noted the counsel for the state has said they have filed an interlocutory application (IA) in the matter.

It observed the said application does not appear to be part of the record.

"In view of the above, the Registry is directed to do the needful. List the IA and the special leave petition on May 7, 2024," the bench said in its order.

The state government has approached the apex court challenging the 20 November last year order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court which granted regular bail to Naidu.

On 28 November last year, the top court had sought a response from Naidu on the state's plea against the high court order.

The top court had also relaxed the bail conditions of the 73-year-old former chief minister and allowed him to participate in public rallies and meetings till 8 December last year, the next date of hearing.

It had, however, said other bail conditions, including him not making public statements or speaking to media about the case, will remain in force.

The high court had converted Naidu's four-week interim medical bail, granted on 31 October, 2023, into absolute bail on 20 November last year and ordered his release considering his age, age-related ailments, non-flight risk and other reasons.

Naidu was arrested on 9 September last year for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation when he was the chief minister in 2015, causing a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer. Naidu has denied the allegations.

During the hearing in the matter before the apex court on 26 February, the Andhra Pradesh government had requested the top court to cancel the bail granted to Naidu, claiming his family members have made statements to "intimidate" public servants to hamper the probe.