In a major legal development in Andhra Pradesh, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court in Vijayawada has accepted the Crime Investigation Department’s request to formally close the skill development case in which Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was named as an accused. With the court approving the closure report, the long-running investigation has now come to an end.
The CID informed the court that after a detailed review of records and evidence, no material was found to establish Naidu’s role in the alleged irregularities linked to the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC). Acting on this submission, the court allowed the agency to close the case, effectively clearing the Chief Minister of all allegations in the matter.
The decision has immediately triggered a sharp political response from the YSR Congress Party. Senior party leader and state general secretary SV Satish Reddy termed the court’s acceptance of the closure report as “deeply disturbing” and alleged that influential power centres were being shielded from accountability. He said the YSRCP would explore legal options to challenge the decision and continue its fight through constitutional means.
Reddy argued that the case had earlier seen multiple layers of investigation, including Special Investigation Team findings, enforcement agency probes, arrests, and seizure of assets. He questioned how such a case could now be dismissed as lacking factual basis and warned that such outcomes weaken public faith in institutions. The party also linked this development to the closure of other past cases, alleging a pattern of selective action.
The skill development case had centred on allegations that public funds running into hundreds of crores were diverted, causing significant financial loss to the state. Naidu was arrested during the investigation and spent more than 50 days in judicial custody before securing bail from the Andhra Pradesh High Court in late 2023.
Andhra Pradesh Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas stated that the investigating agency had acted strictly as per law and placed its findings before the court. He said the judicial authority independently examined the submission and accepted it, bringing the case to a legal close.
