Hyderabad:

An anti-corruption court cited “security” as it rejected a house custody plea for jailed ex-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who will now spend the rest of his two-week remand period in jail, unless he gets relief in the form of bail. On Tuesday Mr Naidu had been sent to judicial custody after he was arrested in connection with an alleged multi-crore scam.

The court in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada rejected arguments from Mr Naidu’s legal team and his wife, who spoke of her “worry for his safety inside jail”. “I did not see any special arrangements made for him,” she told reporters after the court refused to quash Mr Naidu’s remand order.

“I felt I left a part of me inside. They have tied him up in the building he helped construct,” she said.

Mr Naidu’s wife, Bhuvaneswari; his son, Lokesh; and his daughter-in-law, Brahmani; met the former Chief Minister at the jail in Rajahmundry, to which he was taken on Sunday. Bhuvaneswari called on workers from her husband’s Telugu Desam Party to speak out and support him.

READ | Home-Cooked Meals, Special Room For Chandrababu Naidu In Andhra Jail

“Not just TDP cadre… but the people need to stand up for Mr Naidu, who always put the welfare of the people before that of his family. I give you my word that the TDP, established by Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (who is her father), is here to stay,” she declared.

READ | Chandrababu Naidu “Non-Cooperative, Gave Vague Replies”: Andhra Cops To Court

The TDP founder, referred to by his initials – NTR – invoked Telugu pride to establish his party as a force to be reckoned with in a short period of time.

Earlier today, actor-politician Balakrishna – a party lawmaker from Hindupur and NTR’s son, said it was time for the people to “throw out” Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. “No need to be afraid of anyone. I am coming… will show them valour and strength of Telugu people.”

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Police’s Crime Investigation Department has sought five-day custody of Mr Naidu, arguing they need to interrogate him as the alleged is a serious economic offence and as the “prime conspirator”, Chandrababu Naidu, had “full knowledge” of events.

What Is The Skill Development Corporation Scam?

The multi-crore scam deals with money allocated to the Department of Skill Entrepreneurship and Innovation by the state, and incorporated into the 2015-16 budget.

According to the CID, inquiries revealed serious irregularities, specifically, before any expenditure by private entities, the then government provided an advance of Rs 371 crores, representing the entire 10 per cent commitment by the government.

READ | The Rs 371-Crore Scam That Led To Chandrababu Naidu’s Arrest: Explained

Most of the money advanced was diverted to shell companies through fake invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of items mentioned in invoices, officials said.

CID officials have also said senior government officials, including then chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao, made notings in related files. They had objected to the advance release of funds to Design Tech and noted that this was being done on the instructions of N Chandrababu Naidu.

Hyderabad:

Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who was produced in a Vijayawada Anti-Corruption Bureau court on Sunday morning after his arrest, told the court that he has been falsely implicated for political gains. Citing technicalities under statutory provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and claiming there is no “well-founded accusation” against him, Mr Naidu requested that the court reject the remand report submitted by the prosecuting agency.

Any enquiry or investigation relating to offences linked to recommendations made or decision taken by a public servant in discharge of official duties or functions has to be done after a sanction from the person competent to remove him from his office, Mr Naidu’s lawyer argued, citing Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

“The petitioner was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh when the alleged offence alleged to have been committed and the person who removes the Chief Minister from Office is his majesty i.e., the Governor of Andhra Pradesh and hence the prosecution has to obtain prior sanction of the Governor even to initiate an enquiry/investigation in the above case. Hence, there is a statutory violation and hence the remand has to be rejected,” Supreme Court lawyer Siddarth Luthra, who is representing Mr Naidu along with a team of advocates, argued.

The alleged offences relate to a policy decision taken and approved by the state cabinet, making it a decision of the state government, which, therefore, can’t be questioned by initiating criminal proceedings, Mr Luthra further submitted.

The Rs 360 crore which is in contention was allocated to the Department of Skill Entrepreneurship and Innovation by the state government, and incorporated into the 2015-16 state budget, he said, adding that the same was voted by the Legislature and hence it can’t be questioned by initiating criminal proceedings.

No role has been attributed to the accused in the official complaint and the police’s remand report on siphoning the funds, Mr Luthra argued. The First Information Report, or FIR, registered on December 9, 2021, also has no allegation against Mr Naidu, he said.

“No criminal complaint can be made and maintained relating to acts done in discharge of official duties, and if there is any misuse of funds at any level, the same has to be dealt in a different manner but not by way of prosecuting a Hon’ble Chief Minister,” Siddarth Luthra’s petition to the court read.

The TDP chief was arrested in connection with an alleged Rs 300-crore Skill Development Corporation scam after a pre-dawn police operation at Gnanapuram in Nandyala on Saturday. He was arrested by the CID around 6 am from a marriage hall, outside which his caravan was parked.

Mr Naidu has been named the ‘principal conspirator’ in the case.

Hyderabad:

N Chandrababu Naidu, Telugu Desam Party chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, masterminded a Rs 371-crore scam in the state skill development corporation, sources in the YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy government have alleged.

Mr Naidu was arrested early this morning at Nandyal, nearly 300 km from Hyderabad, following high drama. TDP supporters clashed with police personnel who reached Nandyal to take Mr Naidu in custody. He was eventually arrested and shifted to Vijayawada.

In his address to mediapersons, a senior officer of the state CID referred to Mr Naidu as the “prime accused” in connection with the alleged fraud. “This case revolves around the establishment of centres of excellence in Andhra Pradesh,” N Sanjaya, Additional DGP of Andhra CID, said. 

“The Andhra Pradesh government released Rs 371 crore, a large part of which was siphoned and only a small part employed to establish the centres of excellence. Most of this money was diverted through shell companies by using fake invoices.

The investigation revealed that Mr Naidu was the “principal conspirator” in the matter and the transfer of government funds to private entities through shell companies happened under his “active leadership”, the officer said.

“He possesses exclusive knowledge of the transactions leading to the issuing of government orders and the MoU which makes him the central figure of this investigation,” he added.

Sources in the state government alleged that Mr Naidu “meticulously planned, directed, and executed the scam”.

At the centre of the alleged scam is the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation set up under then Chief Minister Naidu to provide job training to youngsters.

The then TDP government entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with German engineering giant Siemens. The project was to be executed by the state skill development body in partnership with a consortium comprising Siemens, Industry Software India Ltd, and Design Tech Systems Pvt Ltd. Siemens was tasked with establishing six centres of excellence, the sources said.

This MoU, they said, laid down that Andhra Pradesh government would contribute 10 percent of the project cost of Rs 3,356 crore.

It is alleged that a whopping Rs 371 crore was disbursed in five installments within three months even though Siemens had not invested any funds into the project.

“Show me where my name is. How can they arrest me without basic evidence?” Mr Naidu said during the face-off between his supporters and cops.

Later, a post on his official X handle said, “For the past 45 years, I have selflessly served Telugu people. I am prepared to sacrifice my life to safeguard the interests of Telugu people. No force on earth can stop me from serving Telugu people, my #AndhraPradesh and my motherland.”

Before he was taken away, the TDP chief asked his supporters to ensure restraint, adding, “In the end, righteousness wins.”

Sources in the government alleged that no files related to the project were signed by then-principal finance secretary and then-chief secretary and this raises “questions about transparency”.

They added that reports suggest that attempts were made to destroy critical documentary evidence linked to the scandal.

The sources alleged that a sum of Rs 241 crore was allegedly diverted to various shell companies, including Allied Computers, Skillers India Pvt Ltd, Knowledge Podium, Cadence Partners, and ETA Greens, without any tangible returns for skill development.

They also pointed to an Enforcement Directorate probe into the case. The ED’s investigation, the sources said, found that the then Andhra Pradesh government violated established norms by releasing Rs 371 crore without a tendering process. The sources in the state government said the central agency made several arrests in the case.

TDP spokesperson Kutumba Rao has said the investigation had reportedly revealed alleged GST violations by Design Tech Systems that had entered into a contract with the state skill development corporation. This was probed by ED and it found diversion of funds to shell companies, he said. “They are wrongly trying to link Chandrababu Naidu to those violations,” Mr Rao said.