SC defers hearing of AP’s plea to cancel bail to Naidu for 10 weeks

Vijayawada: The Supreme Court has deferred the hearing of AP’s plea to cancel bail to former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in the AP skill development scam case for 10 weeks.

A division bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Pankaj Mittal held the hearing in New Delhi on Tuesday. It announced that the hearing on a petition filed by the AP government challenging the state high court order of granting bail to Naidu in the case would be heard after the three-judge bench headed by chief justice DY Chandrachud took a decision on interpretation of section 17A of Prevention of Corruption Act.

AP CID counsel Ranjith Kumar argued that the division bench headed by CJI was yet to take a decision on section 17A of PC Act.

When the bench asked whether it could take up hearing after the division bench took a decision, Naidu’s counsel Siddartha Luthra replied that it was up to the court to decide. He told the court that the AP HC had granted bail to Naidu even before the SC announced its decision in the case.

He submitted that the charge sheet in the case was filed after Naidu spent 52 days in jail.

The court announced that the hearing of the case would be temporarily deferred until the division bench headed by CJI took a decision on 17A of PC Act.

After hearing both the parties, the court deferred the hearing for 10 weeks and said it would mention that the matter be taken up before the division bench headed by CJI after the summer vacation.