Supreme Court upholds bail granted to three in Andhra Pradesh skill development scam

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the bail granted to the former Managing Director (MD) of Siemens Industry Software India Private Limited and two others accused in the Andhra Pradesh skill development scam case [Directorate of Enforcement v Mukul Chandra Agarwal]..A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih refused to allow a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which had challenged the grant of bail to the three accused.The bail granted to to Siemens ex-MD Soumyadri Shekhar Bose, Mukul Chandra Agarwal who was the chief operating Officer of PVSP IT Skills Projects Pvt Ltd, and a chartered accountant, Suresh Goyal, was upheld..All three accused were arrested in the case in March last year. The Andhra Pradesh High Court granted them bail in May 2023.The case involves allegations that government funds intended for a skill development project were diverted to various shell companies through fraudulent invoices, which did not correspond with the delivery of services.Advocates Devina Sehgal, Pratik R Bombarde, and Tatini Basu appeared for the accused. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju with Advocates Mukesh Kumar Marorira appeared for the ED..Bail is rule and jail is exception even in PMLA cases: Supreme Court.Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu is also among those accused in the skill development case. The Andhra Pradesh High Court granted him bail in November 2023.The YSR Congress Party-led Andhra Pradesh government, then helmed by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, had challenged the High Court order granting Naidu bail by moving an appeal before the Supreme Court in November last year.After the first hearing of the matter, the Supreme Court had lifted a bail condition on Naidu that had restrained him from taking part in public rallies and meetings while out on bail.The main appeal is yet to be finally decided.In the meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh witnessed a regime change. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), to which Naidu belongs, was elected into power earlier this year and Naidu became the State's Chief Minister.