Skill Development scam: AP HC bars Nara Lokesh's arrest till Oct 4
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Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday restrained the CID police from arresting Nara Lokesh, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and son of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, in connection with the Skill Development Corporation Scam case until October 4.
Meanwhile, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) informed the court that Lokesh was not named as an accused yet in the case during the hearing of an anticipatory bail application filed by the TDP general secretary.
The CID stated there was no merit in the anticipatory bail plea as Lokesh himself had submitted that he was not an accused person.
Earlier in the day, while hearing a petition filed by Lokesh seeking anticipatory bail in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road (IRR) alignment case, the CID informed the High Court that it will issue a notice under Section 41 A of the CrPC to Lokesh in the case for questioning.
The relief of not to arrest Lokesh up to October 4, however, does not apply to the IRR case as the High Court rejected the anticipatory bail petition.
According to TDP sources, Lokesh is currently camping in Delhi, holding consultations with legal experts in connection with cases registered against Chandrababu Naidu.
In a related development, Naidu's bail application in the IRR case also came up before the High Court today.
Naidu's counsels argued that the case was registered against him due to a 'political vendetta' and that the bail application filed under Section 439 of CrPC should be considered.
The CID observed that the IRR case is a 'deep-rooted' economic offence with conspiracy. It added that Naidu filed a bail application in the High Court to pre-empt the hearings in the trial court.
The TDP supremo has also filed another bail application in the FiberNet scam case in the High Court, which has been posted to October 4 for hearing.
Naidu was arrested on September 9, for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation, which resulted in a purported loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.
With inputs from PTI