SC declines to entertain Andhra govt's plea against pre-arrest bail to Chandrababu Naidu

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a plea by the Andhra Pradesh government against the High Court's order of January 10, 2024, granting anticipatory bail to former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in connection with an FIR lodged in 2022 with regard to a scam in making plan for Inner Ring Road in the capital city.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta took into record its previous order passed in the case of four other accused in the matter.

The court also noted the matter related to year 2014, it would be difficult to prove Section 420 IPC. The bench also noted issue of prior sanction under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act would come into picture.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar appeared for the state government and senior advocate Sidharth Luthra for Naidu.

"We are not inclined... We, however, clarify that observations made in impugned order would not affect the investigation," the bench said.

If the respondent does not cooperate, the petitioner would be at liberty to move for cancellation of bail in the courts, the bench added.

The plea by the AP government questioned the validity of the High Court's order for it "has not only conducted a mini-trial but has also completely erred rendering findings which are completely contrary to the record."

The state government said the High Court has exceeded its jurisdiction, which ought not to be allowed.

"The High Court's rationale regarding the delay in the arrest as a ground for granting anticipatory bail is completely misconceived," it said.

In its petition, the state government claimed the present scam is of a complicated nature involving large magnitudes of documentary and oral testimony.

"The AP CID undertook a detailed investigation, and only after ascertaining the respondent's (Naidu) role herein, did they take steps for police custody. The same ought not to have been held against the State. On the contrary, it is a testimony to the objectivity of the investigating agencies," the plea filed by advocate Mahfooz A Nazki said.

The state government accused Naidu of being "primary architect of the entire scam," claiming he is the ultimate beneficiary of all the windfall gains being made by parties as a result of his manipulation of the alignment.

Enumerating reasons, the Y S R Jaganmohan Reddy government said Naidu should not be granted bail for he allegedly arranged for two of his associates who helped facilitate his illicit cash flow to abscond from India to UAE / USA after they were served with notices from AP CID in another crime.

"Various persons closely associated to Naidu, including his son, have been making public statements directly threatening the investigating officers with dire consequences, in the event the respondent wins the forthcoming elections," the plea said.