Andhra court adjourns Naidu’s bail petitions to Sep 19 in Skill Development Corporation scam

A local court in Vijayawada on Friday adjourned the hearing of two bail petitions filed by TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to September 19. Naidu, who has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days for the alleged misappropriation of funds from the Skill Development Corporation, leading to a loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state government, had filed an interim bail petition as well as one seeking regular bail. “The court heard the matter in detail and directed the matter to be posted to Tuesday, September 19 to enable us (CID lawyers) to file a counter affidavit,” Special Public Prosecutor Y N Vivekananda, representing the CID, told news agencies. He said the CID team of lawyers have opposed both the bail petitions on the grounds of maintainability and made submissions on the merits of the matter. Considering that Naidu’s legal team is not filing a counter affidavit to CID custody seeking petition and also the High Court being told of these matters, Vivekananda said they have requested the lower Court to take it up on September 19 so that the directions given by the High Court may have a binding effect on this Court. According to the special public prosecutor, the bail petitions filed by Naidu are not maintainable in law or going by facts, as both the interim bail application and main bail application were filed under the same sections and no conditions were specified, distinguishing the bail applications. He noted that the Anti-Corruption Bureau court has also observed the same issues. Vivekananda stressed that an interim bail is not maintainable as Naidu is already in remand. Moreover, he said the CID has asked for time till September 19 to file a counter. Instead of filing counters on CID custody petitions, he said Naidu’s lawyers sought that the petitions be quashed – buying time twice – but insisted that they will demand filing the counter on September 19. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Director of Prosecutions J Sudharshana Reddy observed that interim bail applications are generally filed during family emergencies and a detainee is given bail for 24 to 48 hours. In the interim bail petition, Naidu denied all the allegations levelled against him and claimed that there was no prima facie evidence on record. He is currently lodged in the Rajamahendravaram central prison.