Former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s petition for house arrest has been posted by the ACB court here to September 12 (Tuesday) for further hearing after intense day-long arguments, which mainly included Additional Advocate General (AAG) P. Sudhakar Reddy’s assertion that the accused might influence the witnesses if his plea was conceded.
The AAG argued on behalf of the CID while senior advocate Sidharth Luthra represented Mr. Naidu, who was sent to 14 days’ judicial remand on September 10 (Sunday) for allegedly playing a key role in what came to be known as the skill development scam.
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy informed the court that medical assistance was kept on stand-by in spite of Mr. Naidu being in good health, and he would be safer in the central jail at Rajamahendravaram as tight security has been provided on its premises and in the surrounding areas. This was in addition to the ‘Z’ category protection he already has. Basically, there was no provision for house arrest in the Criminal Procedure Code, he maintained.
Mr. Luthra insisted that it was not safe to keep Mr. Naidu in the central jail at Rajamahendravaram because he faces a threat to his life. Hardened criminals were lodged in the prison, which was the threat factor the court should take serious note of, he said. When he cited some relevant Supreme Court case laws, the judge sought clarifications thereof, and adjourned the case.
