Won't arrest Naidu in FiberNet case till Oct 18: Andhra police to SC

The Andhra Pradesh police on Friday told the Supreme Court they will not arrest Telugu Desam Party 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 court.

Senior 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 16.

The special Anti-Corruption Bureau court in Vijayawada issued a production warrant on October 12 and asked the state police to present Naidu before it on October 16.

The 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 case.

Naidu has said in his petition he apprehended his arrest after production in the trial court on October 16.

The FiberNet case relates to alleged tender manipulation in 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 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.

During 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 FIRs.

"Once they arrested him in one case, they started roping him in other cases so that he wouldn't 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 said.

Luthra said on the application of the state police, the trial court issued a production warrant asking the TDP chief to be presented before it on October 16, and Naidu now fears he may be arrested.

Justice Trivedi asked Luthra whether this case also involved Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Section 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 Act).

Luthra replied the FibreNet case also involves the larger question of applicability of section 17A.

"In 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 said.

Justice 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 17.

Luthra said if the court does not protect him or keep the production warrant in abeyance and the police arrest him on October 16, Naidu's anticipatory bail plea would becomes infructuous.

Rohatgi objected to the submission and asked since the trial court has summoned Naidu, how can the production order be kept in abeyance.

The 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 Tuesday."

Rohatgi, after taking instructions, said the Andhra Pradesh police will not arrest Naidu till October 18 and seek adjournment before the trial court on October 16.

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.

He is under judicial remand in the Rajamahendravaram central prison.