Today, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of a plea for anticipatory bail by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu in the FiberNet scam case in the state. They assured the embattled legislator that he would not face arrest by the state's crime investigation department, despite the department having issued a production warrant in connection with this case.
The matter was heard before the division bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi challenging order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court refusing to grant him anticipatory bail earlier this week.
The case against Naidu alleges that he played a pivotal role in the corruption scandal during his tenure as Chief Minister of the state. He stands accused of diverting government funds intended for a skill development project into various shell companies through the use of fraudulent invoices.
During the last proceedings, the Court directed State of Andhra Pradesh police to 'stay its hand' till then. Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra had pointed out that a warrant has been issued to produce Naidu in connection with the FiberNet case on Monday, October 16.
"He is on a merry-go-round. After his initial arrest [in the skill development scam case], they are going after him in one case after the other."
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the crime investigation department, provided assurance that Naidu would not face arrest until Wednesday, October 18. However, due to time constraints, today's hearing had to be postponed, and as a result, this arrangement has now been extended until Friday, October 20.
While hearing the former chief minister's quashing petition in the skill development case, Justice Bose told Luthra today, "Let's finish this, we'll post the other matter on Friday."
The Supreme Court is also currently hearing a special leave petition against this order.
Case Title - Nara Chandrababu Naidu v. State of Andhra Pradesh & Anr.
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