Andhra High Court reserves judgment on quash petition of Chandrababu Naidu in money laundering case

Five senior lawyers presented their arguments before the court on behalf of Chandrababu Naidu and AP CID police.

Naidu’s advocates argued that Naidu was implicated in the skill development scam and it was politically motivated. The AP CID police argued that huge money was sent through shell companies.

Senior Supreme Court Lawyer Harish Salve, who presented arguments virtually, said that he was challenging the FIR itself as there was no mention of Nara Chandrababu Naidu in the FIR filed in 2021. He also pointed out that the FIR was investigated in 2023 and the memo was filled. Permission was not granted under Section 17A (Sanction) by the AP Governor.

The Governor’s permission is imperative to arrest Naidu, his lawyers argued. They said that the FIR against Naidu was completely illegal.

The AP CID police filed the complaint knowing about the provision of Section 17A (Prevention of Corruption Act).

Presenting the argument virtually, Supreme Court lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, on behalf of the AP CID, argued that Chandrababu Naidu was not eligible for bail as sought by his advocates.

Meanwhile, the high court scheduled the hearing of the anticipatory bail petition in the case of the Amaravati Internal Ring Road (IRR) scam for Sept 21. The ACB Special Court also posted the hearing on the custody and interim bail petitions to Sept 20.