Telangana High Court quashes phone-tapping case against Harish Rao, Radha Kishan Rao; says complaint politically motivated

Case stemmed from accusations that Harish Rao and Radha Kishan Rao conspired to harm social activist Chakradhar Goud by threatening and implicating him in false cases

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday quashed the criminal case filed against former Minister and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao and former Deputy Commissioner of Police Radha Kishan Rao.

The case involved allegations of phone tapping and harassment related to the activities of Chakradhar Goud, a social activist.

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The case stemmed from accusations that Harish Rao and Radha Kishan Rao had conspired to harm Goud by threatening him and implicating him in false cases. Goud claimed that his mobile phone was illegally tapped by State intelligence resources, allegedly influenced by Harish Rao. He also claimed that his phone was monitored, along with those of his family members and associates.

Two separate criminal petitions were filed to quash the proceedings. Harish Rao and Radha Kishan Rao were named in the complaint filed at the Punjagutta police station, which accused them of extortion, criminal intimidation, criminal breach of trust by a public servant, and violations of the Information Technology Act.

The complainant alleged that he had faced continuous harassment, including being threatened by Harish Rao and Radha Kishan Rao, for organising charity events in their constituency without their consent. Goud also claimed that he was wrongfully implicated in multiple cases in a bid to halt his charity work.

However, Justice K Lakshman ruled that the criminal complaint lacked the necessary ingredients to substantiate the alleged offences. He also noted that there was an abnormal delay in lodging the complaint — almost a year after the alleged incidents — without any reasonable explanation for the delay. It found that the allegations made in the complaint were vague and baseless, lacking concrete evidence.

The court examined the facts of the case and concluded that the charges related to extortion, criminal intimidation, and phone tapping were not supported by adequate evidence.

The allegations of harassment and illegal surveillance were deemed as part of a broader political rivalry, as Goud had contested against Harish Rao for the Siddipet MLA seat.

The court further emphasised that the proceedings appeared to be vexatious and politically motivated.

While the Public Prosecutor and counsel for Goud argued that the complaint was not delayed and highlighted the gravity of the allegations, the court found the explanation unsatisfactory.

Justice Lakshman noted that the case lacked sufficient evidence to proceed and quashed the criminal proceedings against Harish Rao and Radha Kishan Rao.