SC Grants Anticipatory Bail to T. Prabhakar Rao in Phone Tapping Case

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to T. Prabhakar Rao, main accused in the alleged illegal phone-tapping case of the BRS government, making absolute the interim relief that he had been given earlier. The court said that in event of his arrest, Rao should be released on furnishing of cash security of `25,000 along with two like sureties.

A bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan disposed of the anticipatory bail petition filed by Rao, who had approached the apex court in May last year challenging the Telangana High Court`s orders rejecting his anticipatory bail petition. Noting the submissions made by the Telangana government, which said that the investigation in the case was almost completed and that an additional chargesheet would be filed shortly, possibly within a few weeks, the bench disposed of the matter.

During the hearing, senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Telangana, requested the bench to confirm the interim protection while keeping the larger question of law regarding the maintainability of the anticipatory bail plea open. His objection was that when Rao had undergone custodial interrogation, how could anticipatory bail could be maintained.

Rao, a former chief of the Telangana Intelligence Bureau, is facing allegations of illegally intercepting the phones of politicians, High Court judges and other individuals to allegedly assist the previous BRS government.

In December last year, the Supreme Court had directed Rao to surrender before the investigating officer at Jubilee Hills police station for custodial interrogation after the government alleged that no electronic data could be retrieved from his iCloud accounts and that electronic evidence had allegedly been deleted during the period when he was enjoying interim protection from arrest. Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s directions, Rao underwent custodial interrogation for about two weeks.

While granting him protection, the Supreme Court imposed several conditions on Rao, where he has been directed to surrender his passport before the trial court and refrain from leaving the country without prior permission. The bench also directed him not to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence during the course of the proceedings. The bench clarified that any attempt to destroy evidence or influence witnesses would lead to immediate cancellation of the anticipatory bail. Rao has also been directed to remain available for investigation as well as trial.