Hyderabad: Former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), on Saturday, January 31, agreed for questioning with regard to the phone tapping case at 3:00 pm on February 1, at his Banjara Hills residence.
However, he took strong objection to the way a notice was pasted by the Telangana Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) at the Banjara Hills house last night, when he had asked for the questioning to take place at his Yerravelli farmhouse.
In his latest letter to the Jubilee Hills Division Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), P Venkatagiri, KCR said that the police’s actions were illegal and went against the provisions of Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
He also said that the Jubilee Hills police do not have the jurisdiction to issue notices to him since he does not live within their limits.
Previously, when the SIT sought to examine KCR on January 30, the veteran leader asked for a fresh date, citing he was preoccupied with the process of nominations for the upcoming municipal elections.
He had also asked for the examination to be conducted at Yerravelli village, since CrPC provides that no male person under the age of 15 or above 65 years need not attend the questioning at the police station.
However, the police cited KCR’s election affidavits saying that his residence, as per official records, was in Banjara Hills and asked him to appear there.
They also said it would be difficult to transport the electronic and physical records of the case to Yerravelli.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo termed the reason as ‘double standards’, saying when police issued a notice to Harish Rao, it was posted to his Hyderabad residence instead of Siddipet, which was mentioned in the latter’s election affidavit.
“According to the law, I am not required to present myself at the Nandi Nagar house. However, being a responsible citizen who wishes to assist in the investigation, I will be available at Banjara Hills on February 1,” he said.
Apart from Harish Rao, the party’s Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) and General Secretary Jogipally Santosh Rao have appeared before the SIT in connection with the case.
Apart from that, some other BRS leaders were among those who were recently summoned and questioned by the SIT.
The case relates to allegations of widespread unauthorised and illegal phone surveillance and interception involving politicians, businessmen, journalists, members of the judiciary and eminent personalities.
The nine-member SIT is headed by Hyderabad City Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar.
