As of the most recent update, the special court for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Vijayawada extended the judicial remand of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the alleged multi crore skill development scam case by two more weeks. The ACB court in Vijayawada on Friday reserved its verdict on the former Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s bail plea and posted the matter to October 9 (tomorrow). The court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Monday, when the Supreme Court will resume the hearing of the Special Leave Petition (SLP) of the TDP chief, seeking to quash the case against him. TDP has set up a website to explain their side but courts need official proof.
What is the alleged Scam:
The case dates back to 2014 when the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation (herein after referred as “APSDC”) was established by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government to train unemployed youth and enhance their skills for employability. The corporation was designed to set up training centers in various parts of the state where students could enroll in different courses and program.
APSDC signed an MoU with a consortium consisting of Siemens, Industry Software India Ltd, and Design Tech Systems Pvt Ltd for a skill development project worth Rs 3,300 crore. The government was supposed to cover only 10% of the project cost, while the rest was to be provided by Siemens and Design Tech as a grant-in-aid.
this arrangement was made to facilitate skill development programs and provide certificates to students upon successful completion of the training courses offered by APSDC.
However later to much surprise, the scam held attention in 2018 when a whistleblower complained to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), resulting into Subsequent investigations by ED, GST intelligence wing, and IT Department and further revealing the fraudulent activities, which revolved around the following:
Misappropriation through Fake Invoices: The investigation revealed that fake invoices from affiliated shell companies were used to divert APSDC funds. These funds were allegedly misappropriated through fake invoices without delivering the services specified in the agreement. Affiliated shell companies involved in this scheme included PVSP IT Skills/Skillar Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Allied Computers International (Asia) Ltd, Inweb Services Pvt Ltd, Patrick Info Services Pvt Ltd, Smith Solutions Pvt Ltd, Knowledge Podium, TalentEdge, and others.
Findings of Tax Agencies: In 2017, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) and the Income Tax Department initiated an investigation, uncovering the misappropriation of at least Rs 241 crore out of Rs 371 crore. Fake invoices and Hawala transactions were used in this diversion, which was allegedly concealed under name of project management.
Removal of Notifications and Accused Coordination: The remand report alleged that notifications related to the project were removed from the Secretariat by the accused once Central Tax Agencies began investigating the fund misappropriation network. APSDC was formed in 2014 without cabinet approval, and it was reported that, with Naidu’s instructions, individuals coordinated to prepare cost estimations for the Siemens Project without proper documentation or justification.
Arrests: Several arrests have been made in connection with the scam, including former MD of Siemens Software India Soumyadri Shekhar Bose, Vikas Vinayak Khanwilkar of Designtech Systems, former financial adviser Mukul Chandra Aggarwal, and Suresh Goyal, authorized signatory of Skiller Enterprises India Pvt Ltd.
It was upon investigations made by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) , GST intelligence wing, and IT Department, it was found that the government released Rs 371 crore (including taxes) even before the project started and without calling for tenders and violating rules and codes all the more. The funds were allegedly diverted with the involvement of officials from APSDC and significant portion of the money received by Siemens was allegedly diverted through shell companies. These companies were used to generate cash without providing any actual goods or services.
It was in the State Assembly, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy highlighted the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and former CM Chandrababu Naidu of orchestrating the scam, to which The TDP denied the said allegations and in retrospect accused CM Jagan of corruption.
Presently the ACB court heard the arguments on the petition filed by Naidu seeking bail in the case and the one filed by the CID seeking his police custody for 10 days., wherein ACB extended Mr. NCB Naidu’s judicial remand till October 19, after taking into consideration the memorandum submitted by the CID seeking an extension of judicial custody.
This marked the third extension of Mr. Chandrababu Naidu’s remand. Also it has been further reported that on Tuesday, Mr. NCB Naidu failed attain any substantial and relief from the Supreme Court, wherein the bench constituted of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi.
It is reported that Army of top counsels have been deployed both by state government and by Chandrababu Naidu, to defend their respective sides in the alleged skill development scam. While the state government engaged the services of senior counsels Mukul Rohatgi and Ranjit Kumar and additional advocate general Ponnavolu Suhdakar Reddy, while Mr. Naidu deployed senior counsels Harish Salve, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Siddharth Luthra.
However, the Supreme Court bench refused to entertain Naidu’s plea to restrain the trial court from examining CID’s application for his custodial interrogation. On monday, the ACB court’s verdict is being awaited by the political pundits.
