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SC Grants Bail to Phone Tapping Accused Mekala Thirupathanna

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to suspended additional SP Mekala Thirupathanna, an accused in the phone-tapping case.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma imposed several conditions, while granting bail to him. The bench allowed the trial court to impose additional conditions on him, while issuing the release order. The court also made it clear that any violations of the conditions imposed by it or the trial court may lead to the cancellation of the bail.

Thirupathanna was arrested on March 31, 2024 by the Telangana police on the allegations of his involvement of phone tapping during his work in Special Intelligence bureau ( SIB) with the collusion of other accused.

Breach of Trust by a public servant, criminal conspiracy and other sections have been lodged against him. Since his arrest, he has been in jail and the Telangana High Court had rejected his bail petition in October last year.

Thirupathanna filed SLP in Apex court against the High Court orders.

During the hearings, Siddarth Luthra, senior counsel appearing for the State government vehemently objected to the grant of relief to Thirupathanna and stated that within a period of four months, the remaining investigation will be concluded against him and therefore any release orders, at this stage would prejudice the investigation.

He also brought to the notice of the court that the prime accused Prabhakar Rao, who was the chief of the state intelligence bureau left the country and at least the bail can be granted till his arrest and Interrogation.

Siddarth Dave, senior counsel representing Mekala Thirupathanna, argued that his client was arrested on frivolous allegations and has been in jail for the last 10 months.

“There is no reason as to why his continued incarceration is required when the chargesheet has already been filed but the trial is yet to commence,” the counsel argued, adding that his client has only one year’s service left.

When the counsel for the state government opposed the bail, the Bench inquired about the status of trial and sought to know the purpose of keeping Thirupathanna in prison, even after 10 months of his arrest. The court also noted that there was no single allegation against Thirupathanna of abuse of power in the last 29 years of his service.

The senior counsel for the state, however, requested the bench to disallow other accused in the case from benefiting from Thirupathanna’s bail. The court, however, refused to accept the counsel’s request.

The court, however, directed Thirupathanna to extend his complete cooperation in the investigation as well as trial. It also directed him against causing any delay; or misuse his liberty and influence the witnesses or tamper with the material on record. The court made it clear that any deviation from the conditions would lead to the cancellation of his bail.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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