ACB Court judge B.S.V. Himabindu on October 12 (Thursday) allowed the Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant issued by the CID against former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the FiberNet scam case.
Accordingly, the judge directed the investigating agency to physically produce Mr. Naidu in the court on October 16.
The sanction of PT warrant enables the CID to seek judicial remand of Mr. Naidu and then his custody, depending on the requirement.
Mr. Naidu was accused of approving the project estimates without having any market survey done. He was also accused of getting Vemuri Harikrishna Prasad (A-1) appointed as a member of the Governing Council of the e-Governance Authority. The former Chief Minister was also charged with giving key postings to a few others close to him. Further, he was accused of bringing pressure to revoke the blacklisting of the Terasoft Consortium in furtherance of his personal interests.
Mr. Naidu was also held responsible for certain irregularities in the tendering process, on the ground that he did not take corrective measures even after the issues thereof had been red-flagged on the Floor of the Legislative Assembly.
HC adjourns hearing on Naidu’s bail plea
Meanwhile, Justice K. Suresh Reddy of the A.P. High Court adjourned the hearing of Mr. Naidu’s bail petition in the skill development scam case to October 17. He directed the CID to file a counter by the given date.
Mr. Naidu is currently lodged in the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison on being remanded by the ACB Court till October 19. A Division Bench of the Supreme Court is due to hear on October 13 the SLP filed by Mr. Naidu against the High Court’s dismissal of his petition to quash the CID FIR and the ACB Court’s remand order.
In the same case, TDP national general secretary N. Lokesh got a substantial relief as the High Court disposed of his anticipatory bail petition.
Justice K. Suresh Reddy closed the case after the counsel for the CID submitted that Mr. Lokesh had not been listed as an accused in the case, and hence the CID was not seeking his arrest.
The counsel for the CID also told the court that a notice would be duly issued to Mr. Lokesh under Section 41-A of the Criminal Procedure Code seeking his appearance if he was added as an accused.
The High Court heard Mr. Lokesh’s anticipatory bail petition on October 4 and restrained the CID from arresting him till October 12 (Thursday).
Mr. Lokesh said in his petition that he applied for anticipatory bail as in Mr. Naidu’s remand report in the same case, the CID had mentioned that the former Chief Minister’s family benefited from and had a role in the swindling of funds.
Verdict reserved in Angallu case
The court reserved its judgment in the anticipatory bail plea of Mr. Naidu in the case related to the violence that had broken out during his tour of irrigation projects at Angallu in Annamayya district. Justice Suresh Reddy is likely to pronounce his verdict on October 13.
