Harish Rao Questions Sajjanar's Remarks On Phone-Tapping

BRS Legislature Party Deputy Floor Leader and former minister Harish Rao today expressed strong dissent over the statements made by Hyderabad Police Commissioner and SIT Chief V C Sajjanar that the alleged phone-tapping in the BRS regime was illegal.

Rao contended that such characterisation lacked legal validity until a judicial determination was made.

He said that it was deeply disturbing that the head of an investigating agency would publicly use language that presumed the outcome of an ongoing probe. He added that in a constitutional democracy, until a competent court recorded a finding, no allegation could be treated as an offence.

The BRS leader also said that the role of the police was strictly limited to investigation, and that police officers were not judges or adjudicators and had no authority to declare any act "illegal" at the stage of inquiry.

He explained that whether any phone interception was legal or illegal depended on whether it was in strict compliance with Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, the Information Technology Act and the safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court in PUCL vs Union of India. Any deviation or violation, he said, could be determined only through judicial scrutiny, not through official police communications.

By using the expression "illegal phone tapping" in an official message, the SIT chief had displayed a premeditated decision about the outcome of the investigation, and that such conduct was unbecoming of a senior IPS officer and ran contrary to the standards of neutrality, restraint and impartiality mandated under the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, Rao said.

He concluded that such premature conclusions, particularly in a politically sensitive matter involving a former Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, could create a reasonable apprehension of bias and political motivation in the investigation.

The BRS MLA also raised what he described as a serious question being asked by the people of Telangana: "Why does the SIT Chief repeatedly avoid recognising K Chandrashekar Rao as the Leader of the Opposition?"