ASP Thirupathanna Gets Bail In Phone-Tapping Case

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mekala Thirupathanna has finally been granted bail in the phone-tapping case in Telangana.

He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the case registered against him for allegedly tapping the phones of several people, including politicians and High Court judges, during the BRS regime.

Thirupathanna, who was arrested in the case, has been in jail for the past 10 months. He had approached the Telangana High Court for bail but was denied it in October 2024. He then approached the Supreme Court challenging the rejection of bail.

Representing the Telangana government, advocate Siddhartha Luthra argued against the bail, and said that the investigation into Thirupathanna's alleged involvement was ongoing. He claimed that critical evidence, including data erased after election results on December 3, was being recovered from Google servers. Luthra also accused the ASP of facilitating phone-tapping, destroying evidence and tapping the phones of High Court judges.

Defending Thirupathanna, advocate Siddhartha Dave argued that his client, who had served in a special surveillance unit whos primary purpose itself was surveillance, was merely performing official duties and was thus arrested on baseless charges. Dave said that Thirupathanna had served the Telangana government for 29 years without any prior allegations, and
had been in custody for 10 months already, and given that the charge-sheet in the case was already filed, there was no reason to keep him incarcerated any more.

Considering the prolonged incarceration and his unblemished service record, the court granted Thirupathanna bail, with certain conditions.