The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday granted conditional bail to former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) boss N Chandrababu Naidu till November 24 in a case related to the alleged skill development scam, according to news agency ANI.
Citing High Court advocate Sunkara Krishnamurthy, the agency said that the court has ordered Naidu to surrender on November 24. Setting out conditions on his bail, the high court directed him not to attend any other program except for visiting the hospital.
He has also been ordered not to speak with the media or indulge in any other political activities. The court will hear the arguments on the mail bail plea on November 10.
The former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister was Saturday arrested by the officers of Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department on September 9. The TDP chief is accused of corruption in the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation during his tenure.
Naidu party, led by his son Nara Lokesh in his absence, has been protesting against his arrest, terming it a “political vendetta” by the Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Naidu also denied any corruption in the Skill Development Corporation.
However, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh said that the money trail was “very clearly visible” and that it was a very clear case of government funds transferred and the project of purpose never happened.
“In this case, a government corporation was formed and it was exclusively formed for this purpose of skill development and the proposal was moved by some private individuals…The money trail is very clearly seen,” Additional DG of CID Sanjay had earlier told news agency ANI.
Further, DIG Sanjay said, “You see the role of the ED also in this when they moved in and arrested a few people. So this is a very clear case of government money being transferred and the project itself never happened… How the money went into shell companies and all, is again part of the investigation. So further investigation will reveal the exact end-to-end tie-ups.”