Vijayawada, Nov 20 (UNI) The Andhra Pradesh High Court granted regular bail to former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the Skill Development scam case on Monday.
The High Court granted regular bail to the TDP National President and permitted him him to participate in all political and other programmes from November 29.
The Court contended that ‘there is no evidence that Naidu would influence the witnesses.’
Granting regular bail to the leader of the opposition in the assembly, Justice T Mallikarjun Rao contended that ‘from the material available on record could not be definitively concluded that the misappropriated amounts were diverted to the bank accounts of Telugu Desam Party.’
The Judge said that Naidu could not be held accountable for the discrepancies highlighted in the Forensic Audit report according to which, out of the Rs 371 crore, at least Rs 241 crore were misappropriated by the SISW and Design Tech and diverted to various shell companies.
“The prosecution needs to clarify how the TDP Chief can be held responsible for such discrepancies as it is not his duty while being the Chief Minister, to vary and compare parties’ signatures.
It remains to be clarified how the differences outlined in the report can be deemed the fundamental cause”, the HC Judge said.
The High Court directed Chandrababu Naidu to appear before the ACB court and submit the medical report pertaining to his treatment on November 30.
Earlier, the Court granted Chandrababu Naidu interim bail on October 31 for four weeks on medical grounds and directed him to undergo medical treatment, including cataract surgery.
It may be mentioned here that Chandrababu Naidu was arrested by the AP CID police on September 9 in the Skill Development scam case.
