VIJAYAWADA: The Special ACB court in Vijayawada on Thursday deferred its orders in Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department’s (APCID) plea seeking five-day custody of TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu to question him in the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) case to Friday.
ACB court judge BSV Himabindu heard the arguments on Wednesday and reserved orders for Thursday. She postponed the matter to Friday taking into consideration that the quash petition filed by Naidu was pending before the High Court. The orders are likely to be given at 10.30 a.m.
The 73-year-old was arrested for his alleged role in the Rs 371-crore APSSDC scam and was sent to a 14-day judicial remand on September 10. He is currently lodged at the Rajahmundry Central Jail. While the investigation agency has sought Naidu’s custody to further probe into the money transactions related to the case, the latter approached the high court seeking that the case against him be quashed.
Before concluding the session on Thursday, judge Himabindu said she would pronounce the orders based on the HC’s decision on the quash petition.“The orders will be pronounced, if the quash petition comes to the listing before the High Court, on Friday. Arguments over the quash petition have been completed and judge K Sreenivasa Reddy reserved his judgement to September 19,” said Naidu’s advocates.
Earlier, the APCID’s counsel explained to the ACB court that the probe agency has compelling evidence to prove Naidu’s role in the APPSDC scam. The counsel argued that Naidu’s custody was crucial so that the probe agency could unravel the money trail between the government and shell companies and back to the TDP leader and his benamis. Meanwhile, CID filed another petition with the ACB special court seeking Naidu’s custody in the alleged Amaravati Inner Ring Road (IRR) scam.