NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will pronounce its judgment on an appeal filed by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on January 16. Naidu’s petition challenges the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order, which refused to quash an FIR against him in the Skill Development Corporation (SDC) scam.
A two- judge SC bench, headed by Justice Aniruddha Bose and also comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi, will pronounce the verdict on Tuesday. The top court had reserved its verdict on October 17 last year, after extensively hearing the arguments and submissions made by Naidu, the Andhra Pradesh government and other related parties.
Andhra Pradesh’s Crime Investigation Department had arrested Naidu on September 9, 2023, when he was the chief minister of the state, in connection with an alleged 2015 fraud involving misappropriation of funds from the SDC, causing a loss of Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer. While dismissing his petition to quash the FIR, the AP High Court had, September 22, 2023, said that criminal proceedings ought not to be scuttled at the initial stage and quashing an FIR should be an exception rather than the rule.
The high court had, however, granted him regular bail on November 20 last year. The Telugu Desam Party chief had approached the Supreme Court challenging this high court order. Naidu had contended before the top court that the FIR against him was registered without obtaining prior approval of the competent authority in the case, and therefore his arrest was illegal. The Andhra Pradesh government had also moved Supreme Court against the high court’s order granting regular bail to Naidu in the case. However, it failed to get any relief from SC.