Supreme Court Adjourns Chandrababu Naidu's Anticipatory Bail Hearing in FibreNet Case

In a recent development, the Supreme Court has decided to postpone the hearing of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu's plea for anticipatory bail in the FibreNet case until December 12. This decision comes as a result of an impending judgment in another petition filed by Naidu, seeking the quashing of an FIR linked to the Rs 371 crore skill development scam case, with a verdict anticipated in the near future.

During the brief hearing, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Naidu, urged that the current arrangement preventing his arrest by state police be upheld. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Andhra Pradesh government, assured the court that this arrangement would be maintained.

The Supreme Court had previously directed the Andhra Pradesh Police not to arrest Naidu in the FibreNet case until a verdict was reached in his plea related to the skill development scam case. On October 13, the state police affirmed their commitment not to take Naidu into custody.

The FibreNet case centers on alleged tender manipulation in the allocation of a work order for Phase-1 of the AP FiberNet Project, involving Rs 330 crore, to a favored company. The Andhra Pradesh CID has voiced concerns regarding irregularities in the project, spanning from tender allocation to project completion, resulting in significant losses to the state treasury.

Chandrababu Naidu, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, was arrested on September 9 on charges of misappropriating funds from the skill development corporation during his 2015 tenure, allegedly causing a loss of Rs 371 crore to the state exchequer.