Phone tapping case: Telangana HC seeks State’s response to Shravan Rao’s bail plea

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday asked the State to file a counterJubilee Hills affidavit in response to a bail petition filed by Aruvela Shravan Kumar Rao, the A-6 in a phone tapping case, which involves six individuals, including high-ranking police officers and a television channel representative.

The accused include a retired IPS officer D Prabhakar Rao (A1), Dugyala Praneeth Rao, DSP (A2), Nayini Bhujanga Rao, additional SP (A3), Mekala Tirupathanna (A4), P Radhakishan Rao, DCP (Retd) (A5) and Aruvela Shravan Kumar Rao (A6), who is associated with a TV channel.

On Monday, a High Court Single Bench, comprising Justice Juvvadi Sridevi, adjourned the petition filed by Shravan Kumar Rao to November 7, directing the public prosecutor of Telangana to get instructions in the case and file a counter affidavit for further hearing.

A non-bailable warrant issued by the XIVth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate here is pending against the petitioner.

The judge was hearing the criminal petition filed by Shravan Kumar Rao, the managing director of I-News seeking bail in the phone tapping case (243/2024) registered at Panjagutta PS for alleged offences under sections 409, 427, 201, 120-B r/w 341 IPC and section 3 of PDPP Act and sections 65, 66 and 70 of IT Act.

What is the phone tapping case?

Shravan Rao has been accused of tapping the phones of various State political leaders by setting up a secret war room at a school in Jubilee Hills. The police alleged that Shravan Rao had installed Israel-made tapping equipment at his house in Jubilee Hills.

During the searches at Shravan Kumar Rao’s house and office, the police reportedly seized technical data, documents, diaries with contact numbers of politicians and police officials and call data records of over 200 political leaders from the BJP, Congress, TDP and the BRS, including then Opposition leader and current chief minister A Revanth Reddy and his family.

In the plea, A Shravan Kumar Rao said he had never resorted to surveillance on the leaders of other political leaders for the SIB officials, as alleged by the team of SIB officials.

Further, the petitioner denied the statements made by the other accused in the phone tapping case that the petitioner was asked to persuade political leaders of other parties to join the BRS party so that the party emerges victorious in the 2023 Assembly Elections.

The case has been adjourned to November 7 for further hearing.