CBN Bail Plea In FiberNet Scam Case Postponed

CBN bail plea in FiberNnet scam case postponed.  Supreme Court scheduled Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu's anticipatory bail plea related to the FiberNet scam for January 17. The court had previously deferred the hearing pending a decision on Naidu's quash petition in the skill development case.

A bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi presided over the hearing of Naidu's special leave petition challenging the AP high court’s denial of anticipatory bail in the FiberNet scam case last October.

During the proceedings, senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, representing Andhra Pradesh, accused Naidu of making political statements regarding the ongoing cases and his incarceration. Notably, this alleged violation occurred despite a prior court order in a separate special leave petition related to the skill development scam case, which had prohibited Naidu from publicly commenting on pending cases.

Last month, while addressing the state government's challenge to an AP high court order granting regular bail to Chandrababu in the skill development scam case, the Supreme Court had insisted on continuing the bail condition that restrained Naidu from discussing sub-judice matters related to the case.

Responding to Kumar's plea, Justice Bose instructed senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing Naidu, to ensure that his client refrained from making any public statements about the pendency of the plea in the FiberNet scam case. In turn, Luthra highlighted alleged remarks made by Andhra Pradesh's additional advocate general concerning the criminal cases involving Naidu.

Justice Bose intervened, directing both senior counsels to advise their respective clients to maintain public silence regarding the ongoing cases, emphasizing this directive for both the skill development and FiberNet scam cases.