Chandrababu Naidu
'Falsely implicated for political gain': Arrested TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu tells court
Hyderabad/IBNS: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who was produced in a Vijayawada Anti-Corruption Bureau court on Sunday morning after his arrest, told the court that he has been falsely implicated for political gains.
Citing technicalities under statutory provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and claiming there is no "well-founded accusation" against him, Naidu requested that the court reject the remand report submitted by the prosecuting agency.
The former Andhra Pradesh CM was arrested on the charge of misusing funds from AP Skill Development.
The alleged offences relate to a policy decision taken and approved by the state cabinet, making it a decision of the state government, which, therefore, can't be questioned by initiating criminal proceedings, Supreme Court lawyer Siddarth Luthra, who is representing Naidu along with a team of advocates, submitted.
The Rs. 360 crore which is in contention was allocated to the Department of Skill Entrepreneurship and Innovation by the state government, and incorporated into the 2015-16 state budget, he said, adding that the same was voted by the Legislature and hence it can't be questioned by initiating criminal proceedings.
"No role has been attributed to the accused in the official complaint and the police's remand report on siphoning the funds," Luthra argued.
The First Information Report registered on December 9, 2021, also has no allegation against Mr Naidu, he said.
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