Chandrababu Naidu granted regular bail in skill development case
Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on Monday was granted regular bail in the skill development case.
Chandrababu Naidu on Monday was granted regular bail by the Andhra Pradesh high court in the skill development case, ANI reported. The Telugu Desam Party chief is on interim bail till November 28.
On October 31, the high court granted a four-week interim bail to the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister on medical grounds.
He had been lodged in the Rajahmundry central prison since September 10, a day after being arrested by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in the multi-crore skill development corporation scam and was remanded to judicial custody by the Special Court for the ACB cases in Vijayawada.
In March this year, the CID had initiated a probe into alleged scam worth ₹3,300 crore in the APSSDC during the previous TDP regime.
The probe follows notices to Arja Srikanth, a former Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer who was the CEO of APSSDC in 2016, based on statements from an accused turned approver and depositions by three IAS officers.
The APSSDC was set up in 2016 during Naidu's stint as CM to empower unemployed youth by providing skill training to enhance their employability.
The Naidu government had signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a project worth ₹3,300 crore. The MoU involved a consortium with Siemens Industry Software India Ltd and Design Tech Systems Pvt Ltd, that was asked to set up six centres of excellence for skill development.
The Andhra government was supposed to contribute around 10% of the total project cost, while Siemens and Design Tech would provide the remaining funds as grant-in-aid.
According to the CID probe, the project was initiated without following standard tendering process. The cabinet did not provide clearance for the project, the CID alleged.
