Andhra Pradesh CID files chargesheet against TDP chief Chandrababu in FiberNet case

It claimed he personally recommended executing the FiberNet project through the Energy, Infrastructure, and Investment Department instead of the IT Department.

The chargesheet read, “He personally got Vemuri Harikrishna Prasad (A-2) appointed as a member of the Governing Council-Governance Authority, despite his criminal background, and gave approval for the estimates of the FiberNet project without considering the fact that no market survey was done for the prices of the items or the standards to be followed.”

It added: “Naidu brought pressure on senior Government officials to include Vemuri Harikrishna Prasad in various tender evaluation committees. He also put pressure to revoke the blacklisting done by the government, then prevailing against M/s Terasoftware Pvt Ltd to finally award the tender by silencing protests from other bidders such as M/s Pace Power.”

The CID also said in the charge sheet: “He got officers such as Sundar, IFS, seeking a fair tender process, transferred out unceremoniously and posted more pliable officers in their place,” it pointed.

It alleges that the deviations committed during the execution of the AP Fiber Grid phase-I contract caused a loss of about ₹114 crore to the exchequer.

Further losses are expected due to expensive operation and maintenance works and loss of revenue owing to 80 percent unusable optical fibre cables.

The accused channelled the misappropriated funds through a web of companies belonging to their associates, using fake invoices.

The CID further said senior officials and other government officials deposed under Section 164 of the CrPC before the judicial magistrates regarding the illegal decisions involved in the tender process and execution of the project and the role of Chandrababu Naidu in orchestrating the whole offence.

Also Read: What does an alliance with TDP mean for BJP in Andhra Pradesh?

The case so far

As a part of the BharatNet project of the Central government, the Andhra Pradesh FiberNet project aimed to provide internet and telephone services to all households in the state.

In September 2021, a case was registered against Naidu and 15 other persons and two companies for colluding with Terasoftware Limited in awarding the ₹330 crore tender illegally.

The complaint was filed by current AP State FiberNet Limited Chairman and YSRCP trade union president Dr P Goutham Reddy.

While Chandrababu Naidu was in the Rajamahendravaram Jail as part of his judicial custody in the ₹241-crore Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Scam worth (APSSDC), allegedly diverting the amount to the shell companies, the CID filed a prisoner-in-transit warrant to produce him in the FiberNet case as well.

But Chandrababu Naidu filed petitions seeking anticipatory bail before the ACB court in Vijayawada, but it was rejected. He approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court, but didn’t see any luck.

Later, Naidu approached the Supreme Court seeking anticipatory bail, and the hearing is pending as the Supreme Court judges split the verdict on the applicability of Section 17A in his Naidu’s arrest, introduced by a 2018 amendment to the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988.