Will not arrest TDP chief Naidu in FiberNet case till Oct 18: AP police to SC

The Andhra Pradesh police Friday told the Supreme Court they will not arrest TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu in the FiberNet case till October 18 due to the pendency his petition related to the Skill Development Corporation scam in the apex courtSenior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the Andhra Pradesh government told a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi that the state will seek adjournment in the matter from the trial court where Naidu is to be produced on October 16The special AntiCorruption Bureau court in Vijayawada issued a production warrant on October 12 and asked the state police to present Naidu before it on October 16The bench issued notice to the state government on the fresh plea by Naidu in which the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister has challenged the October 9 order of the high court which had rejected his anticipatory bail application in the FiberNet caseNaidu has said in his petition he apprehended his arrest after production in the trial court on October 16The FiberNet case relates to alleged tender manipulation in allotting a work order under Phase1 of the AP FiberNet Project involving Rs 330 crore to a favoured companyThe Criminal Investigation Department CID of 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 exchequerDuring the hearing on Friday senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appearing for Naidu said after implicating the former chief minister in one case Skill Development scam case the state government has named him in different FIRsOnce they arrested him in one case they started roping him in other cases so that he wouldnt come out of jail In the FibreNet case the FIR was registered in 2021 but nothing happened after that Now on September 19 they added him in the FIR and moved an application before the trial court Luthra saidLuthra said on the application of the state police the trial court issued a production warrant asking the Telugu Desam Party TDP chief to be presented before it on October 16 and Naidu now fears he may be arrestedJustice Trivedi asked Luthra whether this case also involved Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption ActSection 17A was introduced by an amendment with effect from July 26 2018 and the provision stipulates a mandatory requirement for a police officer to seek prior approval from the competent authority for conducting any enquiry or inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act PC ActLuthra replied the FibreNet case also involves the larger question of applicability of section 17AIn this case three people have already got anticipatory bails and three are on regular bails while others have not been arrested Now these being the facts of the case where does the question arise for taking him Naidu into custody he saidJustice Bose said since there is an overlap of section 17A in the FibreNet case and the Skill Development Corporation scam case the court will issue notice to the state government and will take up both the matters on October 17Luthra said if the court does not protect him or keep the production warrant in abeyance and the police arrest him on October 16 Naidus anticipatory bail plea would becomes infructuousRohatgi objected to the submission and asked since the trial court has summoned Naidu how can the production order be kept in abeyanceThe bench told Rohatgi We are not passing any order on the anticipatory bail plea for now and are only issuing notice Till Tuesday you have to hold your hands and not arrest him You tell the trial court you are not arresting him till TuesdayRohatgi after taking instructions said the Andhra Pradesh police will not arrest Naidu till October 18 and seek adjournment before the trial court on October 16Naidu 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 He is under judicial remand in the Rajamahendravaram central prisonThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever