AP HC Reserves Verdict on Naidu's Regular Bail Plea

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s plea for a regular bail in the AP Skill Development Scam case.

A single judge bench headed by Justice T. Mallikarjuna Rao heard the arguments by both the sides.

Additional advocate general Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy, representing AP CID, submitted that Naidu transferred money gained in the scam case through hawala. He informed the court that online chatting pertaining to diversion and parking of funds had been done through a secret code language.

Further, the additional AG said though Siemens was supposed to grant 90 per cent of the project cost for setting up skill training centres, the previous TD government released ₹270 crore to it in advance, flouting all norms.

Sudhakar Reddy told the court that though Naidu had been granted interim bail for undergoing cataract surgery, the former chief minister used the opportunity to influence co-accused and witnesses in the case.

He described the medical report of Naidu suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with irregular heart rhythm as false. “A wrong medical report had been submitted by Naidu only to get bail. He underlined that had the TD chief been suffering from hypertrophic

cardiomyopathy, it would have been reflected in the ECG report. The AAG said, as such, the medical report had been prepared only to get bail from the court.

Sudhakar Reddy appealed to the court to issue a directive to Naidu that he undergo medical tests in the presence of a team of government doctors.

Naidu’s counsels Siddartha Luthra and Dammalapati Srinivas, in their counter arguments, submitted to the court that Naidu played no role in diversion of funds. They maintained that CID, which remained silent in the case during last two years, arrested Naidu only out of political vendetta. They appealed to the court to sanction regular bail to Naidu.

Having heard both the parties, Justice Mallikarjuna Rao has reserved his verdict in the case.