Skill Development Corporation scam: N Chandrababu Naidu moves SC challenging HC order
New Delhi, (PTI): TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court order dismissing his petition for quashing the FIR against him in connection with an alleged scam in the Skill Development Corporation.
The high court had rejected his plea on Friday.
Later on Friday, a court in Vijayawada had granted custody of Naidu to the CID for two days.
Naidu was arrested on September 9 for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Skill Development Corporation when he was chief minister in 2015, which resulted in a purported loss of more than Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer.
While dismissing his petition for quashing of the FIR, the high court had noted that his plea was devoid of merit and said the court was not inclined to interfere at this stage when the investigation was ongoing.
The high court had observed that police have the statutory right and duty under the relevant provisions of the CrPC to investigate a cognisable offence.
It had also stressed that the power of quashing an FIR should be exercised sparingly with circumspection.
Noting that criminal proceedings ought not to be scuttled at the initial stage, the high court had said quashing an FIR should be an exception rather than the rule.
It had said an FIR is not an encyclopedia which must disclose all facts and details relating to the offence reported.
On Friday, a local court had granted custody of Naidu to the CID for two days, during which he would be interrogated on the premises of the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison about the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam in which he is an accused.
After his arrest, Naidu was remanded in judicial custody for a period of 14 days. Prior to granting police custody, the ACB court on Friday had extended his judicial remand by two days till September 24.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
