Skill Scam: Supreme Court Reserves Judgment on Naidu's Special Leave Petition

 Vijayawada: The Supreme Court has reserved its order on the special leave petition (SLP) filed by Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu for quashing the skill development case.

The two-member bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela Trivedi heard the arguments.

Arguments on the petition ended on Tuesday. Advocate Mukul Rohatgi on behalf of the AP government and advocate Harish Salve on behalf of Chandrababu presented arguments.

The bench gave time for the AP CID to make written submissions till Friday. "We have heard the main matter and will deliver judgment," the bench stated after it completed the hearing of arguments from both sides on Tuesday.

Counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who represented the AP government, stated that section 17A was not applicable to Chandrababu in the Skill Development case. He said 17A should not become a shield for the "corrupt". He also argued that other sections were also applicable vis-a-vis this case.

He said ED and other agencies were still probing the case. “Some Rs371 crore from the public exchequer was looted under Chandrababu's rule. There is primary evidence of corruption. Section 482 is used for rarest of the rare cases but the skill development case doesn't belong to this category.”

Harish Salve, arguing through hybrid mode for Naidu, said retrospective legislation impaired past rights.

 Reading from the Shanti Conductors' (2019) case, he said, “A statute will not become retrospective merely because it affected the existing rights. He also quoted from Rattan Lal's (1964) case and noted that Article 20 ensured that no person shall be convicted of any offense except for violation of a law in force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offense, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offense.”

While summing up his arguments, Salve urged the court to grant interim bail to Naidu.

Meanwhile, the SC bench posted further hearing on the anticipatory bail petition filed by Chandrababu Naidu in the Fibernet scam case to Friday.

The apex court also directed the AP CID not to arrest Naidu in connection with the case till Friday.