Chandrababu Naidu, leader of the Telugu Desam Party and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, who is now doing time for his role in the alleged Skill Development Corporation fraud, filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 3, but the court declined to provide any sort of temporary relief.
The case has been put on hold until October 9 by the court’s bench of Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi.
Meanwhile, the bench requested that the state government provide a compilation of all materials submitted to the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
The senior counsel for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) head, Harish Salve, argued that the investigation into Naidu could not have been carried out without the approval of the state governor.
It was his contention that the purpose of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which prohibits police from starting any inquiry or investigation into a public worker without prior consent, was to curb the misuse of the criminal process.
All investigations into allegations “where the alleged offence is relatable to any recommendation made or decision taken by the public servant,” according to senior attorney Abhishek Manu Singhvi, must have prior approval.
On September 27, the Supreme Court heard its most recent hearing on the case after Justice S.V. Bhatti recused himself.
Naidu filed a petition with the Supreme Court of India on that day; however, the bench presided over by Chief Justice D.Y. Chnadrachud did not provide any temporary relief or order an immediate hearing.
Legal heavyweight Sidharth Luthra had argued that the ex-Andhra CM was being “looped in FIRs after FIRs” only because of the forthcoming 2024 general elections.
As a result of the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s rejection of Naidu’s appeal to quash the FIR launched against him and to set aside his judicial custody on September 22, Naidu has filed a Special Leave appeal with the Supreme Court.
