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The Supreme Court on Monday declined the plea of the Andhra Pradesh government challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court order granting anticipatory bail to former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in connection with an FIR lodged in 2022 with regard to a scam in making a plan for the Inner Ring Road in Amravati city.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta dismissed the state government's plea, while noting that an appeal in the case arising from the same FIR, involving the other accused was already dismissed by the court last year. The bench said, in view of the earlier order passed by the apex court, it is not inclined to entertain the the state government's appeal. It was also said that if the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) President Naidu does not cooperate in the investigation, the state government would be at liberty to move the court for the cancellation of bail. On January 10, the Andhra Pradesh High Court granted anticipatory bail to Naidu. Challenging the High Court order, the government said "rationale regarding the delay in the arrest as a ground for granting anticipatory bail is completely misconceived." The Amaravati Inner Ring Road case pertains to alleged corrupt and illegal activities carried out between 2014 and 2019 by Naidu, who was the then Chief Minister, and certain other government officials concerning the design of the master plan for the capital city area and the alignment of the Inner Ring Road and its connected arterial roads. The case was registered on May 9, 2022, pursuant to a report lodged by Mangalagiri MLA Alla Rama Krishna Reddy as well as a preliminary inquiry report. The allegations were that the former Chief Minister was in charge of all decisions made regarding the alignment of the IRR, and he deliberately and fraudulently made such decisions in a manner that benefited private entities with whom he had quid-pro-quo arrangements, or direct ties, to the detriment of the public exchequer. (ANI)
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