Additional Advocate General (AAG) P. Sudhakar Reddy says that the government has been humane in handing former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the skill development scam case.
The government had deputed a DIG-rank officer, which was unprecedented in the country, to arrest Mr. Naidu in the case, allotted him the entire Sneha Block in the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison, and provided him mosquito nets and air-conditioning facility, Mr. Sudhakar Reddy said while addressing the media In Nellore on January 17.
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy said that the government had given many concessions to Mr. Naidu, which were beyond the scope of the jail manual keeping in view his age and the fact that he held high positions earlier. It had not pressed for cancellation of the medical bail granted to him, knowing well that the grounds on which he was let out were “unjustifiable,” he said.
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy pointed out that Mr. Naidu had not categorically stated even once that the release of funds for the skill project was in compliance with the procedures, while a false propaganda was unleashed that his arrest was a blatant act of political vendetta.
The Supreme Court’s split verdict in the case was being claimed by the TDP as a victory, and they had every right to do so. “The truth will ultimately prevail,” Mr. Sudhakar Reddy observed, while saying that he was duty-bound to protect the public exchequer’s money.
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy further said that the TDP leaders and a section of the media sympathetic to Mr. Naidu created a wrong impression that he was victimised, even as the prosecution submitted concrete evidence to the courts.
The judges’ contrasting views on the applicability of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, were being wrongly interpreted as amounting to giving a clean chit to Mr. Naidu, he said.
As the government went about meticulously exposing the wrongdoing, Mr. Naidu’s team resorted to intimidation of the public prosecutors, who were doing their job. However, Mr. Sudhakar Reddy said he was prepared to face any eventuality and would not even fear for his life, suggesting that there were veiled threats to him in the last few months for carrying out the task assigned to him.
