Phone-tapping scam: HC refuses nod to some advocates to implead in PIL

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court’s division bench, comprising CJ Alok Aradhe and Justice T Vinod Kumar, on Wednesday adjudicated Suo Motu taken up public interest litigation by the court by converting a news item, which reported on the phone-tapping issue.

The CJ bench issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary, State DGP, Principal Secretary (Home), Additional DGP (Intelligence) and the City Commissioner of Police, directing them to respond to the news item.

Additional A-G Imran Khan informed the bench that the State government filed a detailed counter-affidavit on the phone-tapping issue and sought four weeks’ to enable the State to inform further progress on investigation. Khan said the State will come out with substantial progress in the investigation on the next date of hearing.

The HC had taken up the case by converting the item published in an English daily as Suo Motu PIL case. The item revealed the mobile phone of Justice Sarath, a HC judge, was also illegally tapped during the BRS government tenure. The police officials, who were entrusted with the task of tapping phones of prominent politicians, judges and other officials are Mekala Tirupathanna, D Praneeth Rao (SIB DSP), former DCP G Radhakrishan Rao. All worked under the supervision of former SIB chief T Prabhakar Rao.

Hearing in the case was adjourned to July 23 for filing counter-affidavits.

Writs seeking disqualification of BRS MLAs who defected to Cong; hearing adjourned

On Wednesday, the HC single bench of Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy adjourned the two writs filed seeking disqualification of BRS MLAs Tellam Venkata Rao (Bhadradri Kothagudem), Kadiyam Srihari (Ghanpur) and Danam Nagender (Khairatabad), who defected to the Congress. Advocate-General A Sudershan Reddy, sought two weeks’ time to make his submissions.

The two writs were filed by Kuna Pandu Vivekananda, MLA BRS9 (Qutbullapur), seeking a direction to the Assembly Speaker to take action on the disqualification petitions dated April 10 of Venkata Rao, Srihari and another writ filed by Padi Kaushik Reddy, BRS MLA (Huzurabad) seeking a direction to the Speaker to disqualify Nagender.

Hearing in the case was adjourned to July 8 for further hearing.