The High Court on Thursday posted the hearing on the bail petition of TDP MLA and former Minister K. Atchannaidu to July 20.
A single-judge Bench comprising Justice C. Manavendranath Roy heard both sides on the ESI scandal which involved massive irregularities in the procurement of medical supplies / services and equipment for ESI hospitals.
Advocate-General (A-G) S. Sriram told the court that Mr. Naidu, who was Minister for Labour, had given clearances for the purchases made since 2016 in blatant violation of norms. He said details of the fraudulent purchases were submitted to the ACB court in Vijayawada which was dealing with the matter.
Mr. Sriram contended that contracts were awarded and purchases made by circumventing the tendering and e-procurement procedures to benefit some private companies.
The petitioner’s advocate insisted that prior consent of the Governor of the State or Legislative Assembly Speaker should have been obtained before launching the prosecution as Mr. Naidu had taken the decisions as a Minister and the alleged scandal is being investigated now.
The A-G differed with that, saying no such prior permission was required as there was no evidence of adherence to the relevant policies and procedures.
He pointed out that tenders should be invited for awarding any contract or availing services costing more than ₹1 lakh as per the AP Finance Code and GOs issued from time to time but it was not followed in the present case.
