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Synopsis

In the plea filed by Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu, seeking to quash the FIR registered against him in the skill development scam, the Supreme Court was told today that Naidu's actions had resulted in immense corruption and major loss to the state.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the State of Andhra Pradesh, made this submission while arguing against issuance of notice in Naidu's plea.

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi was further told that, as opposed to the submission made by Naidu, the case against him was not a case of political vendetta, as the FIR was originally registered in 2021 and Naidu was named in 2023.

On the application of Section 17A Prevention of Corruption Act, which stipulates a mandatory requirement for a Police Officer to seek previous approval for conducting any enquiry or inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Act, the Court was told,

"Parliament has not applied Section 17A retrospectively, neither that was its intention when the provision was introduced in 2018. 17A cannot be considered a roadblock, it actually helps an officer who is scared to investigate..".

The matter will now be heard on Friday at 2 PM.

Supreme Court on October 3rd had called for the entire compilation of documents filed before the High Court by the State of Andhra Pradesh.

Notably, no interim relief was granted to Naidu and he was to continue to remain in custody.

Court had pointed out the invocation of offences under the Indian Penal Code against the former CM while senior counsel Luthra referred to the FIRs against his client as a clear case of regime revenge.

Last week, Supreme Court had refused to restrain the trial judge from hearing the plea seeing extension of police custody of Naidu. CJI Chandrachud led bench had ordered that it will take up the matter now on October 3rd, i.e, today.

Notably, the bench also comprising Justices Pardiwala and Manoj Misra had refused to accept the submission made by Luthra seeking interim relief for Naidu.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had refused to hear Naidu's plea seeking quashing of FIR registered against him when Luthra had mentioned Naidu's plea out of turn. CJI Chandrachud after asking about the date since which Naidu was in custody, told the senior counsel to "come tomorrow".

Naidu filed the instant SLP challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court's order, whereby his plea on the same relief was dismissed two days back, on September 22, 2023.

It is Naidu's case that the High Court has rejected his prayer for quashing of the FIR and quashing of order of judicial remand, disregarding the fact that all actions have been initiated without obtaining sanction mandated by Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

"The Petitioner was suddenly named in the FIR registered over twenty-one months ago, arrested in an illegal manner and deprived of his liberty motivated only by political reasons and even though there is no material against him, the Petitioner is being made to suffer through an illegal motivated investigation, in clear violation of his fundamental right to fair investigation...", the SLP states.

The petition alleges that the FIR is an orchestrated campaign of regime revenge, to derail the largest opposition in the State, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), as Naidu, who is presently the Leader of Opposition and the National President of TDP and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, having served for more than 14 years, has been illegally put to custody in a FIR and investigation which is barred by law.

"The extent of the political vendetta, is further demonstrated from the belated application for grant of police custody dated 11.09.2023, which names the political opponent i.e. the TDP and also the Petitioner’s family who are being targeted to crush all opposition to the party in power in the Respondent State with elections coming near in 2024...", the plea adds.

While dismissing Naidu's petition Justice K. Sreenivasa Reddy had said that a mini-trial could not be conducted by the high court in an application under Section 482. Justice Reddy further said that the investigation was attaining finality and therefore the court was inclined to interfere in the proceedings.

Chandrababu Naidu had approached the high court after he was remanded to 14 day judicial custody by the Anti-Corruption Board court. 

Allegedly, Naidu's government had hastily paid 371 crore in 3 months and syphoned 241 crore out of the 371 crore through shell companies. 

Case Title: NARA CHANDRABABU NAIDU vs. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH & ANR.