Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national 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.
Justice K. Sreenivasa Reddy delivered his verdict on Mr. Naidu’s petition on being convinced that it was not proper to meddle with the investigation at the FIR stage.
In his order, Justice Sreenivasa Reddy said the investigating agency (CID) examined more than 140 witnesses and collected about 4,000 documents pursuant to the registration of the crime in the year 2021, therefore, the court was not inclined to interfere with the impugned proceedings when the investigation was on the fulcrum of attaining finality.
He observed that a mini-trial could not be conducted at this stage and none of the parametres laid down by Supreme Court with regard to the circumstances under which a High Court could interfere in such petitions was satisfied.
Mr. Naidu is arrayed as A-37 in the case that pertains to the misappropriation of huge sums in the process of establishment of skill development institutions by Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation in collaboration with Siemens Industry Software India Private Limited, Design Tech Systems Private Limited and some other companies.
