A major relief for Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu as the CID court has officially closed the liquor policy case filed against him during the previous YSRCP government. The CID informed the court that the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, leading to the closure of the case.
This case was registered on October 30, 2023, when the YSRCP was in power. The allegations stated that between 2014 and 2019, excise policy rules were violated, licences were issued to distilleries without eligibility, and certain suppliers were allegedly given undue benefits. The complaint also claimed that changes made to the liquor policy benefited a few manufacturing companies and caused revenue loss to the government. Based on this, the AP Beverages Corporation’s then Managing Director filed a complaint, naming Sudhakar as A1, Kollu Ravindra as A2, and Chandrababu Naidu as A3.
However, during the investigation, both former and current Beverages Corporation MDs reportedly stated that no irregularities took place and that there was no financial loss to the government. The CID subsequently informed the court that they found no substantial evidence to prove any policy violations or corruption. With the probe yielding no grounds to continue, the court decided to close the case.
This comes shortly after the FiberNet case—another key case filed during the previous government—was also closed by the court. In that case too, the CID concluded that no misappropriation occurred, and senior officials of AP FiberNet confirmed in court that they agreed with the CID’s final report and had no objections to closing the case.
The closure of both cases marks a significant legal relief for Chandrababu Naidu as he continues to clear allegations made during the earlier regime.