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New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted major relief to former Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu in the Fibernet scam case. The Supreme Court asked the Andhra Pradesh Police not to arrest TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in this case until a verdict in plea related to Skill Development scam. A bench of Justices Anirudh Bose and Bela M Trivedi listed Naidu’s anticipatory bail in the Fibernet case.
Now the next hearing in this case will be on November 9. In this case, the Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on the bail petition for now. Let us tell you that Chandrababu Naidu is currently in jail in the Kaushal Vikas scam case. Andhra Pradesh Police, referring to their statement on October 13 that they would not take Naidu into custody.
It is to be noted that the Supreme Court had issued a notice on the petition during the last hearing. During that time, the court also said that no arrest can be made in this case at present. In this case, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had refused to grant anticipatory bail to Naidu. The Andhra Pradesh government counsel had also accepted the notice. Meanwhile, the government had assured that the state would not arrest the former CM in this case.
A few days ago, the Andhra Pradesh Police told the court that the case related to the Kaushal Vikas Nigam scam was pending in the apex court because of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu will not be arrested till October 18. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the Andhra Pradesh government before Justice Anirudh Bose and Justice Bela M. Trivedi told the bench that the state would seek an adjournment in the case from the lower court, where Naidu is scheduled to be produced on October 16.
A special anti-corruption bureau court in Vijayawada issued a search warrant on October 12 and the state police has asked Naidu to appear before him on October 16. The bench issued notice to the state government on Naidu’s fresh plea, in which the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister has challenged the High Court’s October 9 order rejecting his anticipatory bail plea in the Fibernet case.
Naidu had said in his petition that he feared his arrest after his court appearance on October 16. The Fibernet case relates to alleged rigging of the tender in allotting a work order under Phase-I of the Rs 330 crore ‘AP Fibernet’ project to a company of its choice. 73-year-old Naidu was arrested on September 9 for alleged misappropriation of funds from the Skill Development Corporation during his tenure as chief minister in 2015, causing an alleged loss of Rs 371 crore to the state. He remains in judicial remand at the Rajamahendravaram central prison.
