Andhra HC Dismisses Chandrababu Naidu's Petition to Quash FIR Against Him

Hyderabad: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu suffered a major setback in the Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) on September 22, as it struck down his petition for quashing the FIR registered by CID in the skill development scam case and the consequential remand order of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court in Vijayawada.

The high court, which had reserved its orders on Wednesday, pronounced the same on Friday, hours after a Vijayawada ACB Court extended his judicial custody till September 24.

Single bench of Justice Sreenivas Reddy did not agree with the arguments of the counsels of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief challenging his arrest and judicial remand in the case.

Naidu was arrested in the case by the CID in Nandyal on September 9. The next day, ACB Court in Vijayawada sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.The former chief minister was subsequently shifted to Rajahmundry Central Jail.

The Vijayawada Court had also rejected Naidu’s plea for house custody instead of judicial custody.

The CID mentioned in its remand report that the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the state government and the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Centre, totalling Rs 371 crore.

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