Top court gives split verdict on Naidu's plea against FIR

The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a split judgment on a petition by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to quash the case filed against him by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) concerning alleged discrepancies in a 2371 crore development programme.

- Abraham Thomas

A three-judge bench, to be constituted by the Chief Justice of India, will now hear the matter.

The bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi dissented on the point of law whether a prior approval from the competent authority was required before the initiation of the investigation and the registration of the FIR against Naidu under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

Both judges, however, agreed that there were no infirmities in the remand order under which Naidu was arrested and sent to police custody last September.

The judges noted that apart from the charges under the PC Act, the TDP chief was also booked for offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and therefore, the remand order could be upheld.

The investigation against the former chief minister centres around a scheme that allegedly diverted government funds intended for a skill development project into various shell companies through fraudulent invoices, which did not correspond with the delivery of services.