The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a stern directive to T Prabhakar Rao, the former chief of the Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB), ordering him to surrender before the police by 11:00 AM on Friday. Rao is a key accused in the high-profile phone-tapping case involving allegations of illegal surveillance during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime.
A bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan passed the order to facilitate further investigation into the offences alleged against the former intelligence chief.
Vacating the protection previously afforded to Rao, the bench 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.”
While permitting custodial interrogation, the Apex Court reserved liberty for Rao to receive home-cooked food and regular medication while in custody. The matter has been listed for further hearing on Friday.
During the proceedings, Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the State of Telangana, raised serious concerns regarding the accused’s cooperation with the investigation. Luthra submitted that the digital evidence provided by Rao was essentially void, stating that the iCloud accounts opened by the accused “do not have any data” and the provided email addresses do not open.
This follows allegations made by the state government on Wednesday that Rao was withholding access to his iCloud accounts despite court orders. Previously, on May 29, the Supreme Court had granted Rao interim protection from coercive action, on the condition that he provide an undertaking to return to India within three days of receiving his passport.
T Prabhakar Rao moved the Supreme Court challenging an order by the Telangana High Court which had dismissed his plea for anticipatory bail. The legal noose tightened around the former SIB chief earlier this year when a Hyderabad court issued a proclamation order against him on May 22.
According to that proclamation, Rao faced the prospect of being declared a “proclaimed offender” if he failed to appear before the court by June 20. Such a declaration would empower the court to order the attachment of the accused’s properties.
The case centers on allegations that resources of the Special Intelligence Bureau were misused for political purposes. Police investigations suggest that the accused conspired to place citizens from various walks of life under unauthorised surveillance.
The prosecution alleges that the accused developed profiles of several individuals illegally, monitoring them clandestinely to favor a specific political party at the behest of certain individuals. Furthermore, the accused are charged with conspiracy to destroy records to cause the disappearance of evidence related to these crimes.
Since March 2024, the Hyderabad Police have arrested four police officials, including a suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the SIB, for allegedly erasing intelligence information from electronic gadgets and conducting illegal phone tapping. These officials were subsequently granted bail.
