VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (AP-CID) on Thursday submitted a charge sheet before the special ACB court in Vijayawada in the case related to the AP FiberNet scam.
The alleged FiberNet scam took place during the previous TDP regime, while the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was holding the portfolios of energy, infrastructure and investments. The investigation officers have accused Naidu of manipulating the tender process. Irregularities allegedly took place in awarding the work tender for Phase-1 of the AP FiberNet Project of Rs 330 crore to Tera Software Limited, which was blacklisted by the Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (INCAP).
The CID alleged that Naidu facilitated the appointment of Vemuri Harikrishna Prasad, another accused in the case, as a member of the Governing Council-Governance Authority, despite his criminal background.
The former chief minister has been charged with approving the estimates of the project without considering the fact that no market survey was conducted.
Further, the probe agency accused Naidu of exerting pressure on the then government officials to include Harikrishna Prasad in various tender evaluation committees and also to remove Terasoftware from the blacklist. The CID also alleged that former MD of AP State FiberNet Limited K Sambasiva Rao and Harikrishna Prasad prepared the estimates for the project in an arbitrary manner, and extended the last day for filing the bids to enable Terasoftware to participate in the bidding.
Naidu had filed an anticipatory bail plea before the High Court, which was declined. Later, he approached the Supreme Court.