Supreme Court Denies Interim Relief to Chandrababu Naidu in Skill Development Scam Case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied interim relief to Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, in connection with the Skill Development Corporation scam case. Naidu remains to be in custody. Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi adjourned the case until October 9.

In the meantime, the bench instructed the state government to provide a compilation of all documents submitted to the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Naidu, argued that an inquiry against him should not have been conducted without obtaining approval from the state’s Governor. He pointed out Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which requires prior approval for police to investigate a public servant, was introduced to prevent misuse of the criminal procedure.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi added that any inquiry related to allegations connected to a public servant’s recommendations or decisions necessitates prior sanction. In the previous hearing on September 27, Justice S.V. Bhatti recused himself from the case. Later that day, a bench led by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud did not issue any directions for an urgent hearing or grant interim relief to Naidu, despite Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra’s argument that Naidu was facing multiple FIRs due to the upcoming 2024 general elections.

Naidu turned to the Supreme Court by filing a Special Leave Petition after Justice S. Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed his petition on September 22. The petition sought to quash the FIR against him and set aside his judicial remand.