The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to ensure that he did not make any statement in the public domain about the pendency of his plea in the FiberNet scam case.
Mr Naidu is also an accused in the Skill development scam case, and the Apex Court had earlier directed him not to make any public comments in this case.
These observations came from a hearing today, by a two-judge bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Aniruddha Bose and also comprising Justice Bela M Trivedi.
The Apex Court was hearing Naidu's Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the Andhra Pradesh High Court's order Erich had refused to grant him anticipatory bail in the FiberNet scam case in October.
The Top court passed this direction, after hearing the arguments from senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing on behalf of the State of Andhra Pradesh.
During the course of the hearing today, Kumar accused Naidu of allegedly continuing to make 'political statements' about the cases against him and his incarceration, in spite of the fact that there is a court order against him giving any comments about the Skill development case.
The court directed that Naidu should refrain from giving any public comments or statements on the FiberNet scam case as well. It also said that the State of AP also had been directed to do the same.
Opposing the submissions of Kumar, senior lawyer Siddharth Luthra, pointed to alleged remarks made by Andhra Pradesh's Additional Advocate General (AAG) about the criminal cases against Naidu.
The Apex Court also extended the protection from arrest to Naidu till Jan third week, when it would hear his anticipatory bail plea.
It is to be noted that the Top Court would hear the AP government's plea against Naidu's bail on Jan 19 in the Skill development scam case
Andhra Pradesh's Crime Investigation Department (CID) arrested Naidu on September 9 in connection with a fraud case involving the misappropriation of funds from the Skill Development Corporation, and he had allegedly made a loss to the State exchequer to the tune of Rs 300 crores.
It is significant to note that Naidu has already secured regular bail in the Skill development scam, till further orders.
Andhra Pradesh government's petition in the top court said that the alleged crime against Naidu relates to a project involving the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC), Siemens Industry Software (India) Pvt. Ltd and DesignTech India Private Limited for the establishment of SIEMENS centres of excellence and skill development in six clusters in Andhra Pradesh.
Mr Naidu has been accused of expedited incorporation of the APSSDC by overruling objections that it required Cabinet approval.
It is alleged by the present AP Govt that Naidu allegedly created his choice of appointments in the APSSDC to “facilitate the scam”.
Naidu, it is alleged by the state govt, also entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Siemens and DesignTech without any tender process.
He also expedited the release of funds for the project “before any work was done, even overruling the objections of senior officers such as the Finance Secretary”, the state govt alleged in the petition filed before the Top court.