The Supreme Court has directed former Telangana SIB chief T Prabhakar Rao to surrender by 11 am on Friday for further investigation in the phone-tapping case. The court also allowed him home-cooked food and regular medication during custody.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court in New Delhi on Thursday ordered former Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief T Prabhakar Rao, who is an accused in the state’s phone-tapping case, to surrender before the police by 11 am on Friday.
The bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan said this direction was necessary so that the police could continue their investigation properly into the offences alleged against him.
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The court stated,
“We direct the petitioner to surrender before the Jubilee Hills police station and the investigating officer by 11.00 am tomorrow… The custodial interrogation to be done in accordance with law. List on Friday. Liberty is reserved to the petitioner herein to have food from his home as well as medication regularly.”
During the proceedings, senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the state, informed the court that the iCloud accounts linked to Rao, which were earlier claimed to hold important data, were empty and that even the email addresses were not opening.
This came a day after the state government had told the court that Rao was still not giving access to his iCloud accounts despite earlier court directions.
The issue of data access has become significant because the state has alleged that important electronic evidence was wiped out.
Earlier, on May 29, the Supreme Court had given interim protection to Rao and stopped any coercive action against him. This protection was granted on the condition that he submit an undertaking agreeing to return to India within three days after receiving his passport.
Rao had approached the top court challenging a Telangana High Court order that had refused him anticipatory bail.
Before this, on May 22, a Hyderabad court had issued a proclamation order against Rao in the same phone-tapping case, warning that he could be declared a “proclaimed offender” if he did not appear before the court by June 20.
Once a person is declared a proclaimed offender, the court is allowed to attach or seize the person’s properties.
The phone-tapping case has been under investigation since March 2024, when a suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the SIB and three other police officers were arrested by Hyderabad Police.
They were accused of erasing sensitive intelligence information from electronic devices and of being involved in illegal phone surveillance during the previous BRS government. All four officers were later granted bail.
Police have alleged that the accused officers were part of a larger conspiracy where SIB resources were “misused” for political interests. According to investigators, several citizens from different backgrounds were kept under secret surveillance without proper authorisation.
The officers allegedly created detailed profiles of many individuals and monitored them “clandestinely and illegally” inside the SIB.
Police have also claimed that this surveillance was done to benefit a political party and that the officers were involved in destroying records to make evidence of these activities disappear.
The Supreme Court will hear the case again on Friday after Rao surrenders as directed.
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