A local court here might announce T. Prabhakar Rao, the absconding accused in telephone tapping case, as proclaimed offender if he does not appear before the court by June 20. 

The Fourteenth Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate passed a direction to this extent. Retired IPS officer and former chief of Special Intelligence Branch, Mr. Rao held several key positions in police department. According to police department, he ‘fled the country’ on learning that the telephone tapping case was registered.

However, Mr. Rao in his communication to the police department in the affidavits he had filed in the courts maintained that he had gone to U.S. for medical treatment for serious ailment and was ready to cooperate with the investigators. The Telangana High Court had rejected his anticipatory bail petition following which he had moved the Supreme Court. 

In January, the investigators filed a petition in the trial court requesting it to declare Mr. Rao as a proclaimed offender under Section 82 of Criminal Procedure Code. Mr. Rao was accused of eavesdropping on the calls of politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, judicial officers and others with a team of his subordinate police officers while serving as SIB chief for the benefit of the then BRS government during its second stint.

In December 2023, BRS lost the elections and Congress came to power following which Mr. Rao submitted his resignation as SIB chief (he was on extension of service having superannuated). On March 10, a criminal case was registered by Punjagutta police following a complaint lodged by an SIB officer about some hard disks and other electronic evidence being destructed in a part of the SIB office.

Within days of registration of the case, Mr. Rao left for the U.S. The investigators eventually arrested four other police officers in the case. Based on their confession, Mr. Rao was made the first accused in the telephone tapping case. 

In January, the police filed a petition in the lower court seeking to declare Mr. Rao as proclaimed offender under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. having tried to serve warrants issued again him by the court. After hearing contentions of the government counsel, the court on Tuesday passed an order directing Mr. Rao to appear before it by June 20. 

If Mr. Rao fails to appear before the court by the said date, the magistrate might declare him a proclaimed offender.