Telangana government tries to stall court scrutiny of tapping of HC judge’s phone

Hyderabad: In a surprising move, the Congress government in Telangana has been trying its best to avoid High Court scrutiny of its investigation into the sensational telephone tapping by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi regime which did not even spare a High Court judge and his family and several advocates from illegal surveillance.

Hyderabad police commissioner K. Sreenivasa Reddy urged the High Court to close the suo motu writ petition that it took up based on a news report, “HC judge’s mobile tapped: Ex ASP” published in Deccan Chronicle, revealing the conspiracy hatched by the BRS regime to put under surveillance, people from various walks of life including the judiciary.

The commissioner explained in detail the gravity of the offence committed by a team of police officials allegedly at the behest of the BRS top leadership and informed the court that some of the prime accused were still at large. He confirmed to the court that the “Special Operations Team under Prabhakar Rao, former intelligence chief, used to monitor and put surveillance over HC judges (viz Justice Kaja Sarath) and advocates who are having important cases of government and party leaders.”

Yet, he did not want the HC to continue with its suo motu writ petition. All eyes are now on the division bench headed by Chief Justice Alok Adhare which is yet to take a decision on police commissioner’s request.

“Why is the police shying away from the HC monitoring the highly sensitive case as it would seriously look into the threat posed to the independence of the judiciary,” asked senior advocate L. Ravichander. In fact, the government should suo motu welcome the HC intervention and brief it on the progress of the investigation at regular intervals, Ravichander said.

As per the police commissioner’s affidavit, the accused in phone tapping case obtained from the service provider Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd the call detail records (CDR) and internet protocol detail records (IPDR) of two mobile numbers – 9848057235 and 8501958899 – which belong to Justice Sarath and his wife Gogineni Madhavi.

The CDRs were obtained for the period from September 10, 2022, to September 9, 2023, and IDPR was obtained from August 8, 2023, to September 7, 2023. The IPDR helps in determining the caller and receiver though the conversations made using voice over internet protocol.

The legal fraternity was of the view that the court should not only monitor the investigation but lay down guidelines on how much human liberty can be interfered with in the name of investigation by the police and other state agencies. “There is a likelihood of prejudice being alleged against the present investigation on the ground that it is aimed at the previous political executive. The state government can erase this by ensuring judicial monitoring,” said Ravichander.