Justice T. Mallikarjuna Rao of the A.P. High Court (HC) on Wednesday adjourned the anticipatory bail petition filed by TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu in the sand mining scam case to December 12.
The CID counsel sought time to present arguments on the matter following the HC’s recent direction not to take action against Mr. Naidu until further orders. The judge then posted the bail plea for next hearing on the above date.
Mr. Naidu was held responsible for certain irregularities in the implementation of ‘free sand policy’ that purportedly caused a substantial loss to the State exchequer during the TDP regime, along with the then Ministers Peethala Sujatha and Devineni Umamaheswara Rao among other accused.
The former CM stated in the petition that the FIR registered by the CID under the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988 was based on a ‘predetermined contour’ that certain changes were made to the sand policy to favour some individuals/companies. This was evident from the lack of mention of the name of any specific entity in the FIR.
The preliminary inquiry had drawn conclusions from selective references to the orders of the National Green Tribunal, and there was no independent verification of the policy, he submitted.
