No Relief For Former Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu As Supreme Court Rejects His Request For Interim Bail

On Tuesday (17 October), the Supreme Court of India rejected the interim bail request of N Chandrababu Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The court stated that it will announce its decision on his plea challenging a high court order that declined to quash the FIR against him in the Skill Development Corporation scam case.

The bench, comprising justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi, reserved their decision on Naidu's petition and did not grant the plea for interim bail made by senior advocate Harish Salve.

Salve cited Naidu's age and the 40 days he has spent in custody as reasons for seeking interim bail.

Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing Naidu, also requested interim bail for the former chief minister. However, Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, representing the Andhra Pradesh government, opposed the request for relief, stating that Naidu's bail application was pending before the trial court, which will consider it.

Section 17A was added to the PC Act through an amendment in 2018, requiring police officers to seek prior approval from the competent authority before investigating any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Naidu argues that the FIR against him was filed without obtaining the necessary approval of the competent authority in the Skill Development Corporation scam case, rendering his arrest unlawful.

The Supreme Court also scheduled Naidu's separate plea for anticipatory bail in the FiberNet case for Friday. The FiberNet case involves alleged tender manipulation in awarding a work order under Phase-1 of the AP FiberNet Project amounting to Rs 330 crore to a favoured company.

Naidu was arrested on 9 September for alleged misappropriation of funds from the Skill Development Corporation during his tenure as chief minister in 2015, causing an alleged loss of Rs 371 crore to the state exchequer. He is currently in judicial remand at the Rajamahendravaram central prison.