Andhra HC directs CID not to arrest Nara Lokesh until 4 October

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the CID not to arrest Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary and arrested party supremo Chandrababu Naidu's son Nara Lokesh in the skill development project and AP FiberNet scams until 4 October.

The HC passed the interim order on a petition by Lokesh, seeking anticipatory bail in both the cases. The court took up the petitions for hearing and later adjourned the same until 4 October. It also adjourned hearing on Lokesh’s anticipatory bail petition in the AP FiberNet case.

Earlier, the court disposed of a petition filed by Lokesh for anticipatory bail in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case after the CID said it will issue notice to Lokesh under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Advocate-general Subrahmanyam Sriram informed the court that Lokesh will be issued a notice under 41A of the CrPC for questioning in the case. Since the arrest is not apprehended in the case, the court disposed of the TDP leader’s petition after directing him to cooperate in the investigation.

Earlier this week, the CID had filed a memo in Vijayawada ACB Court, naming Lokesh as the 14th accused in the case. The CID has already named Naidu as an accused in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case and AP FiberNet case and filed prisoner transit (PT) warrant petitions against him in Vijayawada ACB Court.

Naidu has also filed petitions in the High Court for anticipatory bail in both cases.

In May 2022, the CID had registered an FIR against Chandrababu Naidu, former municipal administration minister Dr P. Narayana, Heritage Foods Ltd, and others, for alleged irregularities in the construction of an internal ring road in Amaravati.

The FIR was filed based on a complaint from YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Mangalgiri MLA Rama Krishna Reddy, who alleged that certain illegal and corrupt activities were committed by highly placed government officials between 2014 and 2019 with regard to the design of a master plan for the Andhra Pradesh capital, and alignment of the ring road to cause wrongful gain to certain individuals.

Heritage Foods is a company owned by Naidu’s family. The CID had stated that it is probing Lokesh's role in all three scams, which allegedly took place when Naidu was chief minister and Lokesh a minister in his cabinet.