With the arguments in the anticipatory bail petition filed by TV9 former chief executive officer (CEO) Ravi Prakash coming to an end, Justice G. Sri Devi of Telangana High Court on Tuesday reserved the order in the petition.
Mr. Prakash, against whom three FIRs were issued by the Telangana police, has knocked the doors of the High Court seeking an anticipatory bail. The criminal cases registered against him, two by Cyber Crime wing of the Cyberabad police in the last week of April and one by Banjara Hills police of Hyderabad in May first-week, and his subsequent bail petition attracted wide attention.
While the police started looking out for him soon after booking the first two FIRs, Mr. Prakash moved the Telangana HC in the third week of May. Justice A. Rajasheker Reddy dismissed his bail plea. Subsequently, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.
After hearing the matter, the apex court remanded back the petition to Telangana HC stating that the anticipatory bail petition should be decided on merits, while directing Mr. Prakash to appear before the police to cooperate with them in the investigation.
He eventually appeared before the investigators of both the Cyberabad and Hyderabad police. Meanwhile, his petition for anticipatory bail came up for hearing before Justice G. Sri Devi. Lawyers from Supreme Court, Harin Raval and Dil Jit Singh Ahluwalia, appeared for the Telangana police and Mr. Prakash respectively.
Citing several verdicts of the apex court, Mr. Raval contended that the petitioner cannot be granted anticipatory bail. He said Mr. Prakash was not truthful while answering questions from the police. Several documents relating to the case were yet to be seized and hence, his custodial interrogation was a must to take the case to a logical end, he argued.
The arguments continued for the next two days with the counsels for the petitioner and the government sticking to their guns and citing different verdicts of the Supreme Court to support their contentions. On June 11, the judge posted the case to Tuesday. Resuming arguments, Mr. Ahluwalia said as per the apex court orders, anticipatory bail should be given if there was mala fide intention on part of the police.
The police booking three cases in quick succession against Mr. Prakash confirms their mala fide intention, he argued. The former CEO, through an email, had replied to questions raised by the police in FIR no. 89/2019. The police, without issuing an FIR on this, closed the matter and this clearly indicated mala fide on their part, he contended.
Concluding his arguments, Mr. Ahluwalia said a week ago, nearly 100 policemen swamped his client’s house in Hyderabad. “I was told that they came to seize vehicles belonging to TV9 company. With this, police even acted as recovery agents in the case,” the lawyer said.