VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday granted interim bail for a period of four weeks to TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu in the Skill Development Corporation Scam case on medical grounds.
Pronouncing the verdict, Justice T Mallikarjuna Rao said conditional interim bail was granted to Chandrababu Naidu for medical treatment, as requested by him in his petition. He has to surrender before the Rajamahendravaram Jail Superintendent on November 28 before 5 p.m. The case hearing on regular bail petition in the case has been adjourned to November 10
The Court said with a humanitarian perspective in mind and considering the petitioner's health condition, this Court is inclined to grant temporary bail, enabling him to undergo the required surgery on his right eye.
The petitioner was directed to furnish a bail bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh only) with two sureties of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Trial Court. He was also directed to get himself examined/treated at a hospital of his choice at his own expense.
Other conditions for granting him interim bail were that Naidu would provide the details of the treatment given to him and the hospital where he was treated in a sealed cover, to the Superintendent, Central Prison, Rajamahendravaram, at the time of his surrender. The jail superintendent will forward the same to the trial court.
Naidu was asked not to make, directly or indirectly, any inducement, threat, or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the Court or any other authority.
Following the ACB Court rejecting his interim bail plea on medical grounds, counsel for Chandrababu Naidu approached the High Court seeking interim bail stating that the 73-year-old leader is in need of urgent surgical treatment for a cataract in one of his eyes.
In the petition it was said he was suffering from an Erythematous Popular Rash over his front chest, back palms, and intergluteal region, had been suffering from Diabetes Mellitus for 15 years, and is under continuous treatment and had also been diagnosed with Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardio Myopathy.
Arguments in the interim bail petition case concluded on Monday after APCID officials submitted Naidu’s medical test reports and the court reserved its judgment.
Chandrababu Naidu was arrested on September 9 by APCID for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation, which resulted in a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer, following which ACB court sent him to judicial custody. He has been lodged in Rajamahendravaram Central Prison since then.
He is accused number 37 in the APSSDC scam case.
The Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC), floated by Naidu, was to set up clusters of centres of excellence to impart skills to the youth. The project cost was estimated to be around Rs 3,300 crore out of which 90 per cent was to be contributed by technology partners, Siemens and DesignTech, and the rest by the State government.
However, the CID said, contrary to the GO, the State government entered into an MoU and released its share of 10 per cent amounting to Rs 371 crore before any expenditure was incurred by the technology partners.
Most of this money was allegedly diverted to shell companies through fake invoices with no actual delivery or sale of items mentioned in the invoices. The CID suspects that Naidu and the TDP were the beneficiaries of the misappropriated funds.
The case is not a new one. Following a whistleblower’s information, GST (intelligence), the Enforcement Directorate, and the global head office of Seimens, besides the Income Tax Department investigated the fraud.