Tapgate: SC grants anticipatory bail to SIB ex-chief T Prabhakar Rao

HYDERABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday made absolute the anticipatory bail granted earlier to former SIB chief T Prabhakar Rao, a key accused in the illegal phone tapping case.The apex court had granted interim protection to Prabhakar Rao in Dec 2025 while hearing his anticipatory bail petition. With the SC granting anticipatory bail to Rao, all the six accused in the case were now out on bail. Meanwhile, the state govt informed the court that the investigation in the case has been completed, and a supplementary chargesheet would soon be filed in the competent court.While passing the directions, a bench, comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan, noted that in case of his arrest, Rao should be released on furnishing surety bond of ₹25,000 along with two sureties and disposed of the anticipatory bail petition. It directed Rao to surrender his passport with the concerned trial court and he should not travel abroad without the permission of the trial court.Meanwhile, senior counsel Sidharth Luthra appearing for the Telangana govt urged the bench to confirm the interim protection while keeping the larger question of law regarding the maintainability of the anticipatory bail plea open. He contended how the anticipatory bail could be maintained when Rao had already undergone custodial interrogation. Recording the submissions, the bench said: “We are granting the relief of anticipatory bail to the appellant (Rao).”When the HC denied him bail, Rao had moved the SC, which directed him to surrender for custodial interrogation after the state alleged that no electronic data could be retrieved from his cloud accounts and that electronic evidence had been deleted.