In yet another setback for the Telugu Desam Party national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the ACB Court here extended his judicial remand in the skill development scam case till October 19 while adjourning the hearing of his bail pleas and the CID custody petition to October 6.
Mr. Naidu was produced before the judge, B.S.V. Himabindu, virtually from the Rajamahendravaram central jail consequent to the expiry of the existing remand period on October 5.
Appearing for the CID, Additional Advocate-General (AAG) P. Sudhakar Reddy submitted some documents related to bank transactions and e-mail correspondences as proof of the alleged swindling of funds through shell companies, in which Mr. Naidu is said to have played a key role. He dismissed the claim made on behalf of the petitioner that the skill development decision had the Cabinet nod and its implementation had nothing to do with the then Chief Minister, Mr. Naidu, as false.
Senior advocate Pramod Dubey said Mr. Naidu’s role was limited to the sanction of funds and that the prosecution had so far failed in proving his complicity. He maintained that there was no need to seek Mr. Naidu’s custody again as he cooperated with the CID. The PT warrants issued by the CID against Mr. Naidu in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road and FiberNet cases are likely to be heard on October 6.
Order reserved
Meanwhile, the High Court reserved its judgment on Mr. Naidu’s anticipatory bail petition in the FiberNet scam case after the conclusion of arguments on Thursday.
Advocate-General S. Sriram argued on behalf of the CID and senior advocates Siddharth Luthra and Siddharth Agarwal appeared for Mr. Naidu.
