Chandrababu Naidu Granted Bail In Skill Development Case; Know All About It

Former CM of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu has been granted bail In the Skill Development Case, by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

New Delhi: Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu, who had been arrested in a skill development case by the CID on September 9, 2023. The TDP Chief was granted interim bail for four weeks,  for medical treatment but now, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has granted him regular bail. Know all about the multi-crore skill development case, the reason why Chandrababu Naidu was arrested, what has been the road to general bail in this case and what are the latest updates regarding the same..

Chandrababu Naidu Granted Bail By Andhra Pradesh HC

Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday granted bail to former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development case. Advocate Sunkara Krishnamurthy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court told ANI, “Chandrababu Naidu was on interim bail up to November 28. The high court of Andhra Pradesh has granted regular bail in the case.” TDP legal team advocate Siddarth Luthra made arguments on behalf of Chandrababu Naidu. TDP cadres and sympathizers expressed happiness over the court’s decision.

TDP Chief Was Granted Interim Bail Earlier This Month

Earlier this month, the TDP supremo had walked out of Rajahmundry jail on October 31 after the Andhra Pradesh High Court granted him interim bail in the alleged skill development case. Naidu was under 53 days of judicial custody and the interim bail was granted for four weeks. The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on September 9 in connection with the multi-crore skill development scam case, leading to political turmoil in the state with several TDP leaders alleging that the arrest was nothing but a political “witch-hunt” and that Naidu was held on the basis of false allegations.

What Is The Skill Development Case?

The Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had arrested Chandrababu Naidu in connection with an alleged corruption case pertaining to the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3300 crore. The agency officials claimed that the alleged fraud has caused a huge loss to the state government in excess of Rs 300 crores. As per the CID, the investigation has revealed serious irregularities such as before any expenditure by private entities, the then state government provided an advance of Rs 371 crores, representing the entire 10 per cent commitment by the government.

Most of the money advanced by the government was diverted to shell companies through fake invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of the items mentioned in the invoices, CID officials said. In its remand report, the CID has said that according to the investigation so far, the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the Government of AP and AP Skill Development Center, totaling Rs 371 crores.

Meanwhile, the TDP dubbed Naidu’s arrest as ‘illegal’ and a result of ‘political vendetta’ against the party chief former CM. “Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest was illegal. He has been arrested in what appears to be a case of a political vendetta,” TDP MP Ravindra Kumar had said on Saturday.