Hyderabad: The Supreme Court has directed former SIB chief Prabhakar Rao to cooperate with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the ongoing phone tapping case. The court said he must appear before investigators if notices are issued. The case, which created a major political storm in Telangana, came up for hearing on Monday in connection with Rao’s bail plea.
The Telangana government submitted a status report, informing the bench that the investigation is still underway. Arguing on behalf of the government, senior counsel Siddharth Luthra alleged that Rao was not cooperating with the probe. He claimed that electronic devices and evidence had been tampered with and that data from government laptops and mobile phones had been erased.
Rao’s lawyer, however, rejected these charges and said his client had already attended questioning ten times. He maintained that Rao had extended complete cooperation to the SIT and denied allegations of tampering with electronic records.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice B.V. Nagarathna’s bench adjourned the matter to September 22. The court granted the SIT four more weeks to complete its investigation. It also clarified that interim relief granted to Rao will continue until the next hearing.
