Telangana HC bars police from arresting Harish Rao in phone tapping case

Hyderabad, Dec 5: In a relief to senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former minister T. Harish Rao, the Telangana High Court on Thursday directed police not to arrest him in the phone tapping case till further orders.

The High Court passed interim orders on a petition filed by the BRS leader, seeking orders to quash the case booked against him.

The court made it clear that the police may continue its investigation and asked Harish Rao to cooperate in the probe.

The High Court issued a notice to Chakradhar Goud, on whose complaint the police had registered the case, and adjourned the hearing.

The BRS MLA from Siddipet filed a petition on Wednesday, day after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him at Panjagutta Police Station in Hyderabad.

On a complaint by Goud, a real estate businessman and Congress leader from Siddipet, the police booked a case against Harish Rao and retired police officer Radhakishan Rao.

The complainant, who is also the founder of Farmers First Foundation, alleged harassment, threats, and unlawful phone surveillance.

Panjagutta Police registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 120(B) (Criminal conspiracy), 386 (Extortion), 409 (Criminal breach of trust), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act.

Goud alleged that during the Assembly elections last year, Harish Rao with the help of Praneeth Rao (an accused in the phone tapping case) tapped his phone and also 20 phones of his family members.

He claimed that though he had lodged a complaint with the police, no action was taken.

Goud stated in his complaint that Harish Rao developed a grudge against him due to his charitable activities, including financial support to families of farmers who had committed suicide.

The complainant alleged threats, fabricated cases, and unauthorised surveillance of his phone by Harish Rao and associates.

Harish Rao, however, denied the allegations and blamed Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for the false case.

The former minister alleged that he was being implicated in false cases as the Chief Minister was unable to bear the fact that he was pulling him up for injustice at every step, exposing him, and questioning him on behalf of the people.