Retired IAS officer P V Ramesh, who served as advisor to Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government for a few months before quitting the post, landed himself in soup by making controversial comments supporting Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the Rs 371 crore skill development corporation scam.
In an interview to a television channel, Ramesh, who served as Principle Secretary of the Finance Department in the AP government during Naidu regime, expressed surprise that the CID had filed the case against Naidu based on his statement before the CID in the case.
Ramesh said Naidu had confined to only taking policy decisions, while it was the then managing director (Premchandra Reddy) and secretary (Ajeya Kallam) in the case, questioning their absence from the proceedings.
“It is being projected that I have turned an approver in the case, which is not and it is absurd that Naidu was arrested based on my statement,” he said and alleged that the original note files were missing.
The officials, rather than leaders, should be held accountable for mistakes, he said.
However, the CID authorities said the case against Naidu was not filed only based on Ramesh’s statement. It was just one of the evidences during the investigation, they said.
Stating that there were several other evidences to prove the charges against Naidu in the case, including on the diversion of funds, the CID said prosecution would be done based on all the material evidence.
The CID authorities also hinted at taking stringent action against Ramesh for trying to influence the investigation and inquiry by making such statements.
“It is nothing but a contempt of court when the case is still in the purview of the court,” the CID said.
In fact, the CID is alleging that Ramesh was also part of the scam, as he had not taken into consideration the suggestion given by his subordinate against release of Rs 371 crore at one go.
“The officer suggested that the money could be released for one pilot project and then, the remaining amount could be released in phased manner. But Ramesh did not agree with it and ordered release of entire amount,” the CID sources said.
