Supreme Court postpones hearing on Chandrababu Naidu’s petition till December 12

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday postponed till December 12 the hearing on the petition of former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu seeking anticipatory bail in the Fibernet case.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi adjourned the matter, saying the verdict on Naidu’s other plea seeking directions to quash the FIR in the skills development scam case would be pronounced soon.
The Andhra Pradesh government assured the bench that its earlier promise that Naidu would not be arrested till the next verdict would continue.

Earlier, the apex court had asked Andhra Pradesh Police not to arrest Naidu in the Fibernet case till the decision on the plea in the skills development scam case is taken.
Andhra Pradesh Police had assured the bench that the police would not detain Naidu in the Fibernet case.

The top court was hearing Naidu’s special leave plea against the Andhra Pradesh High Court order which had earlier refused to grant him anticipatory bail.

The bench had reserved its verdict on Naidu’s plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged against him in the skill development scam case. He had challenged the High Court’s decision to reject his plea for quashing of the FIR.

The Fibernet case pertains to alleged tender manipulation in allotting work orders worth Rs 330 crore to a preferred company under Phase-1 of the Andhra Pradesh Fibernet project.

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