The Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to former Telangana Intelligence Chief T Prabhakar Rao in the alleged phone tapping case. The Court noted that he cooperated with the investigation and warned against tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to former Telangana Intelligence Chief T Prabhakar Rao in the alleged phone tapping case in the State.
A Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan granted the relief after noting that Rao had been cooperating with the investigation and that the probe was almost complete.
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The case relates to allegations that Rao, during his tenure as the head of the Telangana intelligence department under the earlier Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, was involved in illegal phone tapping. According to the allegations, the phones of several individuals including politicians, businesspersons, journalists and even High Court judges were intercepted without lawful authority.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had granted interim anticipatory bail to Rao while the matter was pending before it. During Tuesday’s hearing, the Court decided to confirm that protection and make it permanent.
While granting relief, the Court also imposed conditions to ensure that the investigation is not affected. The Bench clearly stated that the accused must cooperate with the authorities and must not interfere with the evidence or witnesses involved in the case.
“The appellant shall not, in any way, tamper with the evidence or the material on record, nor attempt to influence any of the witnesses. Any breach of the aforesaid conditions may entail cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to the appellant,” the Court ordered while disposing of the matter.
During the hearing, counsel appearing for Rao informed the Court that the former intelligence chief had fully complied with the earlier directions of the Court and had been cooperating with investigators throughout the proceedings. It was also pointed out that Rao had already been granted interim protection earlier during the pendency of the case.
On behalf of the State of Telangana, Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra appeared before the Bench and submitted that the interim protection granted to Rao could be confirmed by the Court. However, he requested that the question regarding the maintainability of the petition be kept open for consideration at a later stage.
After hearing both sides, the Supreme Court accepted the submission and decided to confirm the interim anticipatory bail granted earlier. The Court observed that the investigation in the phone tapping case was at an advanced stage and that the authorities were likely to file a chargesheet in the coming weeks.
Taking these circumstances into account, the Bench disposed of the petition and granted anticipatory bail to Rao, while also reiterating that he must continue to cooperate with the investigation and strictly follow the conditions laid down by the Court.
Case Title:
T. Prabhakar Rao v. State of Telangana.
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