Vijayawada: The ACB special court on Wednesday concluded its hearings on the AP-CID’s plea for five days’ police custody of Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu for further probe into the AP Skill Development scam of Rs 371 crore. It will deliver the verdict at 11.30 am on Thursday.
Appearing for the AP-CID, additional advocate general Ponnavolu Sudhakar argued that the arrest of Naidu was done after the gathering of evidence. Now, there was a need to inquire about all those involved in the scam.
Unless Naidu is questioned thoroughly, the AP-CID might not get more details in the case, counsel said, and added that the probe agency was trying to unravel the conspiracy angle in the case rather than looking at ways for recovery of the amount that was siphoned off during the TD rule.
He told the court, “We are having all details of the money trail -- as to where the money went and who benefited -- and we seek the custody of Naidu to AP-CID to get more details in the case.”
However, Naidu’s counsels Sidharth Luthra and Siddarth Agarwal argued that Naidu was produced before the ACB court after his arrest at Nandyal on September 9. “The AP-CID did not seek custody when Naidu was produced before the court. So, how it could file a memo in the court seeking his custody for further probe on September 11?”
They argued that the inquiry officer changed his decision in 24 hours and sought custody of Naidu.
“Naidu’s arrest was carried out in violation of all established procedures and there was no proof of Naidu involving himself in graft. Whoever was getting arrested in the case in the last four years, the AP-CID was claiming that they resorted to abuse of funds.”
Counsels also argued as to why the AP-CID was seeking Naidu’s custody again even though it kept him in its office for several hours for questioning and claimed that it got the requisite information from him. They also asked how the AP-CID could reveal details of the inquiry in the case before the media. After hearing both the parties, the ACB court said it would deliver the verdict on Thursday.
