Andhra Pradesh High Court has granted Regular Bail for Former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in the Skill Development Case. The court further did not impose any conditions too making Chandrababu free to take up any political activity.
Until now, Chandrababu was out on an interim bail. YSR Congress leaders and supporters were mocking the TDP cadre that he was just out on medical grounds and there is nothing related to the merits of the case.
But then, it is not the case with the Regular Bail.
Justice T Mallikarjuna Rao in his judgment went on to say there is no need to do a Mini-Trial while deciding the bail but still got into the merits of the matter in bits and pieces.
In one place, he said the CID did not provide evidence that the money involved in the Skill Development case was withdrawn by the Petitioner in cash.
The court also said that the CID could not prove that the proceeds of the Skill case went into TDP’s account. “The court, at this point, views the lack of supportive material as a gap in the investigation’s conclusion that the alleged misappropriated amount had been transferred to the T.D.P. party’s account,” it said.
In another place, the court opined that in the one year and ten months, since Naidu’s name was included in this case, there are no allegations of him trying to interfere in the interrogation.
The Court also did not buy the argument that Chandrababu’s former PA Srinivas fled out of the country with the Former Chief Minister’s help. The court said the claim lacked supporting evidence.
The High Court also mentioned that it is not the duty of the Chief Minister to check for the necessary signatures and dates on the agreement with SIEMENS even as CID said that Chandrababu is directly involved.
These are some observations made by the High Court in the Bail Order. These are some crucial points that can influence the outcome of this case and going by the comments of the judge, the case appears flimsy.
