Telangana High Court grants anticipatory bail to IT Grids directors

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to IT Grids (India) Private Limited managing director D. Ashok and his wife and director Sri Lakshmi in the case of alleged theft of data of 7.28 crore voters in the Telugu states

Mr Ashok is the prime accused in the case which was filed on March 2 by the Telangana police. He has been on the run since then.

Justice Ghandikota Sridevi allowed their pleas and directed the petitioners to execute personal bonds for Rs 25,000 each and two sureties of the same amount. Both of them should appear before the station house officer daily and surrender their passports. They must not travel out of India without taking permission of the court. Mr Ramesh, counsel for Mr Ashok, and Mr Dammalapati Srinivas, former advocate general of AP, who appeared for Ms Sri Lakshmi, informed the court that the petitioners had been booked under the Information Act as well as the IPC.

The offences lodged under the IT Act were bailable. They submitted that the police under political pressure had lodged the cases and started harassing their clients.

“The investigating agency, prior to summoning the accused, should collect the evidence and then call them. Here the investigating officer is first summoning them for interrogation and forcibly trying to get a confession,” counsel said.

Mr Harin Raval, senior counsel of the Supreme Court, represented the Telangana Police and said the Special Investigation Team comprising an IGP rank officer, two SPs and two deputy SPs and other officials had studied the issue and examined 19 witnesses, out of whom six were employees of IT Grids.

He stressed the Supreme Court direction that the anticipatory bail application is not maintainable if an accused is absconding and not appearing before the investigating officer.

Justice Sridevi did not accept the Telangana police request to stay the orders of granting anticipatory bail for a week to approach the Supreme Court.