HC to hear PIL on corruption cases involving Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu on Nov. 10

A Division Bench of the High Court (HC) headed by Chief Justice Lisa Gill on Thursday posted a PIL that sought the transfer of cases of corruption that allegedly involved Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for hearing on November 10.

In the PIL (W.P. No. 140 of 2024) filed soon after the change of government in 2024, the petitioner, K.B.G. Tilak, apprehended that the change of guard could affect the investigations and lead to closure of the cases.

The cases related to the transfer of assigned lands belonging to members of SC/ST communities, irregularities in the award of an optical-fibre network tender, setting up of skill development centres, land acquisition for Amaravati Inner Ring Road and implementation of excise and free sand policies.

Senior Counsel Ranjith Kumar argued that the complainants in these cases were government officials and that, as Mr. Naidu was in power, they did not come forward to challenge the closure reports for obvious reasons, hence the cases needed an independent scrutiny.

He observed that as a Constitutional Court, the HC possessed the authority to order an inquiry where the circumstances warrant it, including after an acquittal, or to transfer an investigation to the CBI to ensure fairness.

The petitioner’s case was that closure of the reports did not, by itself, prevent the court from considering whether an independent probe was required, Mr. Kumar added.