Telangana opposes bail plea of absconding ex-SIB Chief Prabhakar Rao in phone tapping case

Hyderabad: Telangana has opposed the bail plea of absconding former SIB Chief T. Prabhakar Rao in the phone tapping case.

Siddharth Luthra, appearing for the state government on Tuesday, vehemently opposed before the Telangana High Court.

Prabhakar Rao, a retired IPS officer and former SIB Chief, is presently absconding and staying in the USA.

Luthra contended that Prabhakar Rao has made a mockery of the system by using the government machinery in the SIB to illegally tap the phones of bureaucrats, politicians, businessmen, etc.

Luthra argued that the custody of Prabhakar Rao is crucial for the investigating agency to unearth important facets in the phone tapping case. He said Rao headed the SIB and picked up a team of trusted officers, who executed all his nefarious and illegal works, including destroying hard discs, cell phones, CCTV cameras, etc.

He said Prabhakar Rao, who is accused number 1, can divulge all clues in this case once questioned. The protection of “not to arrest” extended to Sravan Kumar, accused number six, by the Supreme Court is not applicable to Prabhakar Rao, because it is only an interim protection, which can be vacated at any time, Luthra argued.

Moreover, accused number six in his statement said that on the instructions of Prabhakar Rao, he had provided all the inputs about politicians. Though the state government is leaving no stone unturned to extradite Prabhakar Rao to India, the petitioner has not taken any step to return and appear before the investigating agency. He has not taken any steps to challenge the revocation of his passport. Rather, he is sitting in the USA, allegedly intending to come to India under a court order, Luthra said.

Luthra alleged that Prabhakar Rao has made all false statements regarding his ill health, viz., treatment for his throat cancer, dental implant, etc. He said the medical records furnished before the court date back to 2004, 2005, and 2008. Earlier, he was fit to perform his duty, and when the phone tapping case was unearthed, he suddenly tried to make false statements about his health.

Justice J Sreenivas Rao was hearing the criminal petition filed by T. Prabhakar Rao for anticipatory bail.

Due to a paucity of court time, the court adjourned the matter to Thursday for further arguments.