Telangana High Court Prevents Police from Detaining Harish Rao in Phone Tapping Allegations
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Hyderabad, Dec 5 (NationPress) In a significant relief for senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former minister T. Harish Rao, the Telangana High Court on Thursday instructed the police not to detain him regarding the phone tapping allegations until further orders.
The High Court issued interim orders following a petition from the BRS leader, who sought to have the case against him dismissed.
The court clarified that while the police are permitted to continue their investigation, Harish Rao is expected to fully cooperate with the inquiry.
A notice was sent to Chakradhar Goud, the individual whose complaint led to the police filing the case, and the hearing has been postponed.
The BRS MLA from Siddipet submitted his petition on Wednesday, just a day after a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against him at the Panjagutta Police Station in Hyderabad.
Based on a complaint from Goud, a real estate entrepreneur and Congress leader from Siddipet, the police initiated legal action against Harish Rao and retired police officer Radhakishan Rao.
The complainant, who is also the founder of the Farmers First Foundation, accused Harish Rao of harassment, threats, and illegal phone surveillance.
The Panjagutta Police registered charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 120(B) (Criminal conspiracy), 386 (Extortion), 409 (Criminal breach of trust), 506 (Criminal intimidation), and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act.
Goud claimed that during the previous Assembly elections, Harish Rao, aided by Praneeth Rao (another accused in the phone tapping case), unlawfully tapped his phone as well as the phones of 20 of his family members.
He asserted that although he had reported the matter to the police, no action was taken.
According to Goud's complaint, Harish Rao harbored resentment towards him due to his charitable endeavors, which included financial assistance to families of deceased farmers.
The complainant alleged threats, false accusations, and unauthorized monitoring of his phone by Harish Rao and his associates.
In response, Harish Rao rejected the allegations, accusing Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of orchestrating the false case against him.
The former minister contended that he was being wrongfully implicated in these allegations as the Chief Minister could not tolerate his criticisms regarding injustices, which he highlighted to the public.
