The Supreme Court on Friday extended the police custody of former Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief T Prabhakar Rao till December 25 in connection with the high-profile phone-tapping case, while directing that he be released after interrogation on December 26.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan also ordered that no coercive action be taken against Rao until the court hears the matter next. The case has been listed for further hearing on January 16.
During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that although Rao had surrendered as directed, he was not cooperating with the investigation. Submitting a status report, Mehta sought an extension of police custody by one week, alleging that Rao had conducted illegal surveillance on targeted individuals under the pretext of monitoring Marxist activities.
Opposing the plea, senior advocate Ranjeet Kumar, appearing for Rao, alleged that the former intelligence chief was being harassed during interrogation and was being questioned continuously from 10 am to 10 pm.
Rao had surrendered before the investigating officer at the Jubilee Hills police station in Hyderabad on December 12 at around 11 am, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s earlier directions. The Telangana government has alleged that he continues to withhold access to his iCloud accounts despite specific court orders.
Earlier, on May 29, the apex court granted Rao interim protection from coercive action and directed him to give an undertaking to return to India within three days of receiving his passport. Rao has challenged an order of the Telangana High Court that dismissed his plea for anticipatory bail in the case.
The phone-tapping case has its origins in a proclamation order issued against Rao by a Hyderabad court on May 22. The order warned that he could be declared a proclaimed offender if he failed to appear before the court by June 20, a declaration that could have led to attachment of his properties.
The investigation pertains to alleged illegal surveillance and destruction of digital evidence during the previous BRS regime. Hyderabad Police have arrested four police officials since March 2024, including a suspended DSP of the SIB, for allegedly erasing intelligence data from electronic devices and carrying out unauthorised phone-tapping. All four were later granted bail.
According to the police, the accused misused SIB resources for political purposes by placing individuals from various walks of life under covert surveillance, allegedly to benefit a political party. They are also accused of unlawfully creating profiles of citizens without authorisation, monitoring them secretly, and conspiring to destroy records and evidence related to the alleged illegal activities.
