No arrest for Chandrababu Naidu till Nov 9 in FiberNet scam

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday deferred a plea by former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu for anticipatory bail in the FiberNet scam case till November 9.

The court asked the Andhra Pradesh government to continue with its previous assurance against arrest till then.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, for Naidu, asked a bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi to continue the interim protection from arrest for his client.

“I leave it to the court, otherwise, this plea will become infructuous,” he said.

The bench asked Luthra if the plea can wait till the judgment (on another plea by Naidu) is delivered.

A senior counsel, representing the Andhra Pradesh government, objected to Luthra's submissions. He said once a person is in custody, the question of arrest does not always arise.

The bench, questioning the need to arrest Naidu in the FiberNet scam case, told state’s counsel that Naidu is already in custody and they can interrogate him.

The counsel said for the purpose of interrogation, they will need court's permission then and unless they can show him to be in their custody, they cannot apply for police custody.

Luthra, on the contrary, said that is fallacious and it is a complete misrepresentation of the law.

He claimed they have not bothered to ask him any question since September 9, when he was taken into custody.

The bench decided to defer the hearing until November 9, since the court has already reserved the judgment in the skill development case. The bench said let the understanding continue.

Naidu has challenged the Andhra Pradesh High Court order refusing to quash the FIR in the skill development centre scam case.

He also special leave petition against an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court refusing to grant him anticipatory bail in the FiberNet scam case.