In a recent development, the Supreme Court has postponed the hearing of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu's anticipatory bail plea related to the FibreNet case until December 12. The bench, consisting of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi, attributed the delay to an impending judgment on another petition filed by Naidu. This second petition seeks to quash the FIR in the Rs 371 crore skill development scam case.
During a brief court session, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Naidu, requested the court to uphold the existing arrangement preventing his client's arrest by the State Police. In response, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Andhra Pradesh government, assured the court that the current arrangement would persist.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Andhra Pradesh Police to refrain from arresting Naidu in the FibreNet case until a decision is reached on the plea related to the skill development scam case. The state police, on October 13, gave assurance to the apex court that they would not apprehend Naidu.
The FibreNet case revolves around suspected tender manipulation, leading to the awarding of a Rs 330 crore work order under Phase-1 of the AP FiberNet Project to a favored company. The Andhra Pradesh Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) alleges irregularities in the project, from the tender awarding process to the project's completion, causing a significant financial loss to the state exchequer.
Naidu, 73 years old, faced detention on September 9 on charges of embezzling funds from the skill development corporation during his tenure as the chief minister in 2015. The alleged misappropriation is claimed to have resulted in a significant loss of Rs 371 crore to the state exchequer. As the legal proceedings unfold, Naidu's fate in these cases remains uncertain pending the court's decisions.
Case: NARA CHANDRABABU NAIDU vs. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH,
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No. 13356/2023.
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