Telangana govt urges HC to take strict action against Harish Rao in phone tapping case

Hyderabad: The state govt on Wednesday told the Telangana high court that former minister T Harish had used the state intelligence machinery to crush his political adversaries by tapping phones illegally and urged the court to show no leniency to him as he had invaded the privacy of individuals.
The state made the plea as Justice K Lakshman resumed hearing in the case filed by BSP leader G Chakradhar Goud who has alleged that Harish Rao tapped his phone and harassed him ahead of the 2023 assembly elections. Chakradhar had lost to Harish Rao from Siddipet.
The judge, after hearing the arguments, extended Harish Rao's interim protection from arrest till Feb 19.
Appearing for the state, Supreme Court senior counsel Sidhartha Luthra said a minister should act like a protector, but Harish Rao behaved like a predator. He alleged that then task force chief Radha Kishan Rao harassed Chakradhar at Harish's behest and filed multiple criminal cases against him because he sought to contest from Siddipet.
"The ongoing police probe into phone tapping has confirmed that Chakradhar's number was in the list of tapped phones. This is a serious case. A nine-judge SC bench has held that privacy is sacrosanct and cannot be violated. Though tapping is allowed in certain cases with due permission, no such procedure was followed in Chakradhar's case. This makes it a clear case of unauthorised phone tapping for political purposes," Luthra said.
Refuting the argument of Harish that sections pertaining to criminal breach of trust cannot be slapped against him because no public property was entrusted to him, Luthra said all tapping equipment was public property and its misuse attracted punishment under criminal breach of trust.
He alleged that Harish was upset with the growing popularity of Chakradhar in Siddipet because the latter was helping farmers' families where breadwinners had ended their lives.
"Chakradhar distributed 2.5 crore to 250 crisis-stricken families. Harish used police to make anonymous calls to Chakradhar to threaten him. Police were seeking sources of Chakradhar's income. This is not the job of the police. Income tax department should take care of such things," Luthra said.
"The threatening calls, the consequent arrests, the tapping of the phones of Chakradhar, his wife and his followers, the consequent arrest of Chakradhar in multiple cases and third-degree treatment meted out to him by police, all come under criminal intimidation," Luthra said.
He also brushed aside Harish's argument that this was a politically motivated case launched long after the alleged incident.
"The record shows that Chakradhar made many unsuccessful attempts to lodge an FIR against Harish when BRS was in power. He also questioned why the former minister rushed to the court within five days after the case was registered by Panjagutta police on Dec 1, 2024. Apple company too forewarned Chakradhar about his phone being tapped," Luthra said.
Senior counsel Dama Seshadri Naidu, who appeared for Harish Rao, said none of the sections of law such as criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, extortion etc., were applicable.
"There are several criminal cases against Chakradhar from 2006 onwards. In one case, the wife of his friend gave a statement against him. Though he distributed 2.5 crore to 250 farmers' families, he did not show his income particulars in his election affidavit. He joined BJP, but when they refused a ticket, he joined BSP and contested against Harish Rao. Apple had raised a false alarm and Indian govt had made a formal complaint on this," Seshadri said.
The case was adjourned to Feb 19.