New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday extended the police custody of former Telangana Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief T Prabhakar Rao, an accused in the phone tapping case, till December 25.
Rao’s lawyer argued that the 12-hour interrogation was aimed at breaking his spirit; however, the Supreme Court refused to relax the interrogation hours, stating that he is an experienced individual and can handle it.
The matter came before a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted before the bench that Rao had surrendered but was not cooperating with the investigation.
Mehta presented a status report to the court and sought a one-week extension of police custody to complete the interrogation. Mehta argued before the bench that Rao was illegally monitoring targeted individuals under the guise of tracking Maoists. Mehta contended that he was attempting to destroy data and erase evidence.
Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for Rao, said that his client was being harassed in the name of interrogation. Kumar told the bench that he had been interrogated from 10 am to 10 pm for the past seven days, and today was the eighth day, and emphasized that they wanted a self-incriminating statement from him.
Kumar said, “They want a self-incriminating statement and want to implicate some other people. The questions being asked are to that extent, and Article 21 is being violated…They have all the documents and hard disks…There is no further need for police interrogation.”
Another lawyer for Rao said that as the court indicated that he had surrendered and emphasized that he is 69 years old and a cancer survivor, the twelve-hour interrogation was aimed at breaking his spirit. Rao’s lawyer said, “Please, keep the interrogation hours short… He is not accused of murder.” To this, the bench remarked that he is an experienced person and can handle it.
After hearing the arguments, the bench said that Rao would be released after questioning on December 26. The bench clarified that no coercive action would be taken against him until the next hearing. The bench scheduled the next hearing for January 16 next year.
Rao surrendered to the investigating officer at the Jubilee Hills police station at 11 am on December 12, as per the Supreme Court’s order. The Telangana government had earlier alleged that Rao was still withholding access to his iCloud account despite the court order.
In May this year, the Supreme Court had granted Rao interim protection from coercive action and directed him to give an undertaking that he would return to India within three days of receiving his passport.
Rao had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Telangana High Court’s order rejecting his anticipatory bail application. On May 22, a Hyderabad court had issued a proclamation order against Rao in the phone tapping case.
