Atchen Granted Bail After 76 Days

[Anta Assamey]

Senior TDP legislator and former minister K Atchan Naidu was at last granted bail by the AP high court on Friday, in the sensational multi-crore Employees State Insurance scam.

Atchan, who was arrested in connection with the multi-crore Employees State Insurance scam on June 12, has been undergoing treatment at NRI Hospitals in Mangalagiri in connection with Covid-19 treatment.

While the special court for ACB cases refused to grant him bail as there were prima facie evidences against him in the ESI scam, his lawyers – senior Supreme Court lawyer Siddharth Lodhra and high court lawyer Venkateshwarlu moved the high court for bail. 

On Tuesday, the court heard the arguments from both the prosecution and the petitioners for more than two hours and reserved its judgement. On Friday, the high court granted conditional bail to Atchan Naidu.

The court ordered that Atchan Naidu give Rs 2 lakh as surety and he shall not leave the country without permission from the court.

It also warned Atchan against influencing the witnesses and said he should be available to the investigating authorities whenever they wanted.

Atchan was initially admitted to Ramesh Hospitals in Guntur after undergoing surgery for his fissures problem in Vijayawada.

However, he developed symptoms for Covid-19 and later tested positive for the viral disease. As a result, the police filed a petition in the high court. 

Following a representation from the lawyers of Atchan, the high court directed that he be shifted to NRI Hospitals.

Srikakulam MP and Atchan’s nephew K Rammohan Naidu expressed happiness over the granting of bail to his uncle.

While thanking everybody for their support, he asked them not to come to the hospitals for calling on Atchan, because of Covid-19 situation.