Sand Scam Case: AP High Court Defers Hearing on Naidu’s Anticipatory Bail Plea to Nov 22

Guntur: Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday deferred the hearing in the sand scam case to November 22. The TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had filed a petition seeking anticipatory bail following the AP Criminal Investigation Department (APCID) named him as an accused number 2 (A-2) in the case. 

The CID had filed a case against Naidu after receiving a complaint from the Director, Mines and Geology VG Venkat Reddy claiming Rs 1,300 crore loss to the state exchequer in the implementation of free sand policy during the previous TDP government. It is alleged that the Green Tribunal regulations were violated and cabinet approval were also not sought while implementing the free sand policy. 

In his anticipatory bail petition, Naidu alleged that the case was filed against him with a mala fide intention and to keep him away from the political activities. After hearing the arguments, the court directed the state government to file a counter by November 20 and posted the matter for hearing on November 22. 

It is alleged that the free sand policy was not implemented without following the due procedure and Naidu and his cabinet colleagues have drawn benefits out of the free land policy. The CID has named former minister Peethala Sujatha as accused number 1 (A-1) Naidu, Chintamaneni Prabhakar and Devineni Uma as (A-2), (A-3) and (A-4) respectively. It is worth mentioning here that Naidu is released on 4-weeks bail on medical grounds. 

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