The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday refused to take up the plea of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu that sought to quash the FIR filed against him by the state’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) in connection with an alleged scam in the Skill Development Corporation.
“Mention it tomorrow. It has to come in the mentioning list. Please, come tomorrow,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud replied after senior counsel, Sidharth Luthra, representing Naidu, sought an early date of hearing citing Naidu’s custody since September 8, Live Law reported.
CJI Chandrachud added that he cannot entertain the plea since it was not there in the list of mentioning matters.
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According to the guidelines, a case can be mentioned for fixing a date of hearing only after it finds a place in a list prepared by the concerned registrar, who in turn is guided by the regulations laid down for the assignment of dates for different categories of cases.
A day after the Andhra Pradesh High Court junked his plea to nix the first information report (FIR) in the case, Naidu had moved the court on Saturday (September 23) and termed his arrest an instance of “regime revenge and political vendetta”.
The high court had in its order noted that the investigation was at the “fulcrum of completion” and that no prior approval was required to probe Naidu’s alleged role in the matter.
Naidu, in his appeal before the top court, said that he was suddenly named in the FIR registered over 21 months ago.
“The Petitioner was 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,” said the plea.
Andhra Pradesh HC has dismissed his petition for quashing the FIR against him in connection with an alleged scam in the Skill Development Corporation. The HC also extended his judicial custody till October 8.
Also Read: Former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu sent to 14-day judicial custody in corruption case
Case against Chandrababu Naidu
N Chandrababu Naidu was arrested on September 9 for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation when he was chief minister in 2015, which resulted in a purported loss of more than Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.
After his arrest, Naidu was remanded in judicial custody for a period of 14 days. Prior to granting police custody, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court had extended his judicial remand by two days till September 24.