The Supreme Court will hear today the petition filed by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desom Party leader N Chandrababu Naidu seeking to quash the FIR in relation to the alleged skill development scam.
A bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi will hear the matter. Last week, his petition got adjourned as Justice SVN Bhatti (who hails from Andhra Pradesh) recused from hearing it.
Naidu has approached the Supreme Court challenging the judgment dated 22.09.2023 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court which dismissed his petition to quash the FIR. Naidu was arrested on September 9 and has been under custody since then.
At the High Court, a bench of Justice K Sreenivas Reddy dismissed Naidu's petition by noting that the investigation in the FIR, which was registered in 2021, is almost in its final stages, with about 140 witnesses examined and 4000 documents collected. The bench therefore observed that it will be improper to interfere with the investigation at such an advanced stage. The High Court also rejected the legal argument raised by Naidu that the FIR is unsustainable for lack of sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The bench observed that allegations relating to fabrication of documents and misappropriation of funds cannot be regarded as part of official functions and hence the protection under Section 17A was not applicable.
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