PNS | Vijayawada
In a big setback to the TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu in the Skill Development Scam, the bail petition was struck down by the Supreme Court. The Apex court refused to grant the mid-term bail even after his advocate Harish Salve appealed to the court to grant the bail as the Dasara holidays are around the corner.
The Supreme Court bench headed by judges Justice Anirudh Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi heard the arguments of both parties in the quash petition filed by Chandrababu and reserved its judgment. Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who represented the AP state government, stated that 17A does not apply to Chandrababu Naidu in the Skill Development Scam.
Rohatgi said 17A should not become a shield for the “corrupt”. He also argued that other sections are also applicable to the case to probe the skill development scam. He mentioned that ED and other agencies are probing the case. He argued that Rs 371 crore public exchequer was looted under Chandrababu’s rule. Rohatgi stated that there was primary evidence of corruption in the case. Section 482 is only used for the rarest of the rare cases and the Skill Development Scam case doesn’t belong to it.
On the whole, the Supreme Court has reserved its judgment in the quash petition filed by Naidu who sought the quashing of the FIR in totality. Further details are awaited.
HC to hear CBN’s bail plea tomorrow
The AP High Court postponed the hearing on the bail petition filed by TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu in the skill scam case to October 19. The court delivered the orders after the counsel for Naidu requested time to present their argument. The ACB special court in Vijayawada had already dismissed the bail petition of Naidu, following which Naidu filed the bail petition in the high court. In another petition filed by Naidu’s advocates seeking the issuing of health bulletins on Chandrababu’s health conditions, the ACB court started hearing and instructed the AP CID to file a counter in the case.
Kilaru skips CID questioning
In a separate development, Telugu Desam leader and Nara Lokesh’s close aide, Kilaru Rajesh skipped the questioning of AP CID on Tuesday. The investigation agency called Rajesh to attend the questioning with documents but Rajesh sent an email stating that he will attend the questioning after the Dasara festival as presently documents were unavailable.
