Skill Development Corporation Scam: AP CID Seeks 15-day Custody of Naidu 

Vijayawada: Former chief minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu was produced in an Anti-Corruption Bureau court on Sunday. The state Criminal Investigation Department (AP CID) had arrested Naidu from Nandyal in connection with the Skill Development Corporation scam on Saturday. 

Earlier on Saturday, the CID officials had said Naidu was the principal conspirator and ‘accused no 1’ in the Rs 371 crore scam related to the establishment of clusters of centres of excellence in Andhra Pradesh. The officials said the fraud has caused huge loss to the Government of Andhra Pradesh in excess of Rs 300 crores. 

The Opposition leader was grilled at the SIT office for 10 hours. He was shifted to Government general hospital at around 4 am when was examined by the doctors. After medical tests, the TDP leader was shifted to the SIT office. 

At the ACB speiclal court, Naidu’s lawyers Siddhartha Luthra and Posani Venkateswara Rao argued that the TDP leader was not involved in the Skill Development Corporation scam. They contended that the skill development issue was a policy matter and the TDP government held a discussion on this issue in the Assembly too. 

Additional AG P Sudhakar Reddy, who presented the arguments on behalf of AP CID, submitted the remand report to the court and sought judicial custody for 15-days  of Naidu for interrogation. He also said that the investigating agency has arrested eight persons in the skill development scam. 

What Does Remand Report Contain?

According to the remand report, Chandrababu Naidu is the principal conspirator in the skill development scam. He met the representatives of Design Tech and Siemens companies through a TDP leader Illandula Ramesh. It also said the skill development project was approved only on the basis of a power point presentation given by the representatives of the above two firms and the government did not conduct any market survey for the project. 

The remand report further states that the then government lied to the State cabinet saying Siemens would bear 90 percent of the project cost. It said without any performance or bank guarantee, the government released Rs 371 crore funds to Design Tech firm and the government ignored the objections raised by the former Finance Department Secretary K Sunitha. 

TDP chief demands rejection of remand report

Meanwhile, the TDP chief Naidu sought dismissal of the remand report and told the court that he had no role in the misappropriation of APSSDC funds. The former chief minister said until 9 December 2021, he was not named in the FIR related to the case and his arrest was illegal and politically motivated. 

He also said the decision was a policy matter discussed by the Cabinet and approved by the Assembly and therefore the government’s decision cannot be challenged through criminal proceedings. 

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