Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu moved the Supreme Court on Saturday after the high court dismissed his petition for quashing the FIR against him in connection with the alleged skill development scam. The high court dismissed his petition on Friday, saying the court was not inclined to interfere at this stage when the investigation was ongoing.
Naidu, president of the Telugu Desam Party, was arrested on September 9, for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation, leading to a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.
He was questioned by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh Police on Saturday, a day after a local court in Vijayawada granted custody of the 73-year-old leader to the CID for two days. According to reports, the questioning will continue on Sunday.
"Chandrababu Naidu was interrogated in Rajahmundry Central Jail. The interrogation went on for seven hours. CID recorded Chandrababu's statement in the presence of lawyers," an officer told news agency ANI.
"The investigation was conducted in groups of three with one CID DSP and two CIs. After the lunch break, the hearing lasted for three hours. About 60 questions have been asked by the CID to Chandrababu Naidu," the officer said.
In its order, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court had allowed three deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) from the Economic Offences Wing of the CID, accompanied by six more junior police officers, one professional videographer and two official mediators to participate in the interrogation.
The CID will preserve videos of the interrogation and submit them in the court.
On Friday, while rejecting Naidu’s petition, the high court had noted that quashing an FIR should be an exception rather than the rule. It had also stressed that the power of quashing an FIR should be exercised sparingly with circumspection.
The power of quashing an FIR should be exercised sparingly with circumspection, the court had said.
