Naidu to remain in jail as HC defers plea till Sept 19

The Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday adjourned to September 19 a petition filed by the chief of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) N Chandrababu Naidu seeking to quash the case filed against him by the state crime investigation department (CID) in connection with the multicrore state skill development corporation scam

- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

The court, however, ordered CID cannot take Naidu's custody until September 18, and told the special court for Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cases in Vijayawada not to issue any order putting Naidu in CID custody until the next date of hearing.

Naidu moved the high court on Tuesday alleging that the FIR filed by CID in the skill development corporation scam case was "politically motivated" and the case was foisted at the behest of chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

A high court bench headed by justice K Sreenivasa Reddy asked CID to file the counter-affidavit, for which additional advocate general Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy, arguing for the probe agency, sought a week's time. The order means that Naidu will continue to be in Rajahmundry central jail, where he has been lodged on a two-week judicial remand after the ACB court rejected his bail petition. On Tuesday, the same court rejected another plea arguing that Naidu, being under the protection of National Security Guards, faced a threat in Rajahmundry jail and should be kept in house arrest.