Hyderabad: Justice J. Sreenivas Rao of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday reserved orders on the anticipatory bail plea filed by T. Prabhakar Rao, former chief of the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) and the prime accused in the phone tapping case.
The court also reserved its decision on a plea by S. Sreedhar Rao, managing director of Sandhya Conventions, who sought to be impleaded in the bail petition. Appearing for him, advocate A. Satyasri told the court that Sreedhar Rao was a victim of the surveillance allegedly carried out during Prabhakar Rao’s tenure and that he had been coerced into paying Rs 15 crore as a donation to BRS, as part of a compromise settlement.
She further alleged that under instructions from Ravindhar Rao, a close relative of Prabhakar Rao and E. Sambasiva Rao from the media, Prabhakar Rao had placed Sreedhar Rao under illegal surveillance. His location was tracked, he was picked up, harassed physically and mentally and forced to pay large sums, she said.
The counsel told the court that the SIB team, under Prabhakar Rao’s direction, had filed 25 false criminal cases to pressure Sreedhar Rao. He was allegedly forced to purchase electoral bonds worth Rs 13 crore to benefit the BRS, which was in power until 2023. She urged the court not to grant anticipatory bail to Prabhakar Rao.
On the other hand, T. Niranjan Reddy, senior counsel appearing for Prabhakar Rao, argued that Sreedhar Rao could not seek to be impleaded in the petition as he was a third party. Public prosecutor Palle Nageshwar Rao contended that anticipatory bail should not be granted to an individual who has been absconding and non-cooperative with the investigation. Following the conclusion of arguments from all parties, the judge reserved orders.
