The Supreme Court has reserved its order on a petition filed by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for quashing the first information report (FIR) against him in the skill development scam case
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi refused to grant interim bail to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo who has been in jail since his arrest on September 9 by the AP CID.
Naidu had approached the top court after the high court last month declined to quash the FIR against him.
Senior lawyer Harish Salve, appearing for Naidu, had sought interim bail to the 73-year-old politician, citing his age and the period of 40 days that he has spent in custody.
"I have a request for interim bail. Your Lordships may consider releasing him. If you eventually rule against him, he can go back. In the 2015-16 inquiry, the government's lament was that nothing came of it. Now, in 2021, they are desperately grasping at straws," Salve said.
Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, also representing Naidu, too, sought interim bail for the former chief minister.
Both the requests were strongly opposed by the state government represented by senior lawyer Ranjit Kumar who said Naidu’s bail application was pending before the trial court which will consider it.
Following this, the top court refused to grant interim bail and reserved its order.
"Hearing concluded. We have heard the main matter and we will deliver the judgment,” Justice Bose said.
The bench headed by Justice Bose started hearing Naidu’s plea on October 3 after Justice S.V.N. Bharti recused himself from hearing it. The argument was mainly revolved around the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, reported Live Law.
The provision, introduced to the PC Act in 2018, stipulates a mandatory requirement for a police officer to seek prior approval from the competent authority for conducting any investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Act.