The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday stayed the proceedings initiated by an Anti-Corruption Bureau court against former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu till September 18 in connection with an alleged multi-crore scam in the state’s Skill Development Corporation, Bar and Bench reported.

Justice K Sreenivasa Reddy said that the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department cannot take custody of Naidu till that date.

The judge was hearing a petition by the Telugu Desam Party leader challenging the Anti-Corruption Bureau court in Vijayawada’s September 10 order to send him to judicial custody for 14 days.

The police claim to have prima facie evidence of his involvement in the siphoning off approximately Rs 371 crore belonging to the Skill Development Corporation through fictitious companies when Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party was in power.

On Tuesday, the Anti-Corruption Bureau court on Tuesday rejected a plea by Naidu seeking house arrest, reported The Hindu.

Naidu had sought house arrest on the grounds of possible security lapses in prison.

The court rejected Naidu’s petition after the prosecutors assured that there was no threat to his safety as the central jail had been converted into a fortress.

The government told the court that medical facilities and medicines were kept on standby and Naidu was even allowed to have home-made food, according to The Hindu.

In a separate development, the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on Monday filed a prisoner in transit petition in the Anti-Corruption Bureau court seeking Naidu’s custody in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case, reported The News Minute. Amaravati city is being built to serve as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

According to the first information report, Naidu, former Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Ponguru Narayana and others have been accused of irregularities in the construction of an internal ring road in Amaravati.

Naidu played a crucial role in appointing a master planner of Amaravati on nomination basis when he was the chief minister between 2014 and 2019, the FIR said. The road was designed in such a manner that it passed just adjacent to the properties of the accused, including Naidu’s, leading to values appreciating.