New Delhi: In a key development in the alleged phone-tapping case in Telangana, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed former state police intelligence chief T. Prabhakar Rao, an accused in the case, to provide the correct ID and password for his iCloud and other cloud backups to the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
A bench of Justices B. V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan directed Prabhakar Rao that whenever summoned by SIT, he should reset and activate the password in the presence of forensic experts.
The former IPS official was also directed by the apex court to share all information with the investigation team.
Prabhakar Rao, through his lawyer, had submitted to the court that he forgot the password of his iCloud account, which is very old. He offered to reset it in the presence of forensic experts.
The direction came during the hearing of the state’s application to vacate the order granting Prabhakar Rao interim protection from arrest. The bench extended the protection till the next date of hearing.
Prabhakar Rao is named as a prime accused in the case relating to alleged phone tapping when Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was in power in Telangana.
Appearing for the state, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said there was no progress in the case due to lack of cooperation from Prabhakar Rao. He told the court that the accused formatted his devices, thereby destroying electronic evidence.
However, Prabhakar Rao’s counsel, DS Naidu, denied that he was not cooperating with the investigators. He claimed that his client shared all the information except the password to his personal iCloud devices.
The bench was informed that the investigators have Prabhakar Rao’s devices and that he had been summoned 11 times and questioned for 18 hours.
The former head of the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) denied the charge that he deleted data from the devices. His counsel told the court that the department computer experts had deleted following standard security protocol.
Prabhakar Rao has been accused of orchestrating the illegal surveillance of several prominent individuals during the BRS rule. He had allegedly constituted a special team in the SIB to tap the phones of those working against the BRS government.
The team allegedly tapped phones of Congress and BJP leaders, businessmen, celebrities, journalists, members of civil society and even judges.
The allegations came to light in March 2024 with the arrest of former Deputy Superintendent of Police D. Praneeth Rao following a complaint from his superior.
Police later also arrested retired Deputy Commissioner of Police P Radha Kishan Rao and additional superintendents of police N Bhujanga Rao and M. Thirupathanna.
After the defeat of BRS in the 2023 elections, Prabhakar Rao resigned from his post. He had left for the US just before the case was registered against him.
The Supreme Court, on May 29, 2025, directed authorities to arrange an emergency travel document to enable Prabhakar Rao to return.
The apex court passed the order on a petition by Prabhakar Rao, challenging the Telangana High Court order dismissing his petition for anticipatory bail.
The bench also barred police from taking any coercive step against Rao till further orders.
As per an undertaken given to the Supreme Court, Prabhakar Rao returned to India on June 8.
(IANS)
