SC delays hearing on Chandrababu Naidu's anticipatory bail plea in FibreNet case to Dec 12

New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned until December 12 the hearing of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu's plea seeking anticipatory bail in the FibreNet case. A bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi deferred the matter, saying the judgement in another petition filed by Naidu seeking quashing of the FIR in the Rs 371 crore skill development scam case is likely to be delivered soon.

During the brief hearing, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Naidu, a former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, said the initial arrangement against his arrest by the state police should continue.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Andhra Pradesh government, assured the court that the arrangement will continue.

The top court had earlier asked the Andhra Pradesh Police not to arrest Naidu in the FibreNet case until it has delivered its verdict on the TDP supremo's plea in the skill development scam case. The state police had told the apex court on October 13 they will not take Naidu into custody. The FiberNet case relates to alleged tender manipulation for allotting a work order under Phase-1 of the AP FiberNet Project involving Rs 330 crore to a favoured company.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Andhra Pradesh Police has alleged irregularities in the project right from awarding the tender to completion of the work, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer.

Naidu, 73, was arrested on September 9 for allegedly misappropriating funds from the skill development corporation when he was the chief minister in 2015, causing a purported loss of Rs 371 crore to the state exchequer. PTI