A Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna is scheduled to hear on September 27 a petition filed by Telugu Desam Party national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu against an Andhra Pradesh High Court order refusing to quash FIRs against him in the multi-crore skill development scam case.
The Bench also comprises Justice SVN Bhatti.
Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had on Monday asked Mr. Naidu’s lawyers to make an oral mentioning on September 26 for an early hearing. However, the occasion never arose as the Chief Justice was heading a Constitution Bench on Tuesday and did not entertain any oral mentioning.
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However, now, the listing of the case before Justice Khanna’s Bench has come as an answer to Mr. Naidu’s plea for an early hearing.
The petition, filed through Mr. Naidu’s lawyer, advocate Guntur Pramod Kumar, said the FIRs were “an orchestrated campaign of regime revenge to derail the largest Opposition in the State”.
‘Illegal arrest’
“The petitioner [Mr. Naidu] was suddenly named in the FIR registered 21 months ago, arrested in an illegal manner and deprived of his liberty, motivated only by political reasons. Even though there is no material against him, the petitioner is being made to suffer an illegal and motivated investigation in clear violation of his fundamental rights,” the special leave petition said.
The High Court had declined to quash the criminal cases filed against Mr. Naidu. It had also refused to set aside the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court’s order to remand him.
The High Court, in its September 22 order, said the probe agency had initiated criminal action against Mr. Naidu after conducting extensive examination of witnesses and collection of documentary evidence following the registration of the crime in 2021. The investigation was at its final stage, the High Court had said.
The case involves alleged misappropriations made in the process of establishment of skill development institutions by the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation in collaboration with private companies.
Published - September 27, 2023 12:01 am IST
