The Supreme Court on Monday directed former Telangana Intelligence Chief T Prabhakar Rao, the main accused in the alleged phone-tapping case, to reset and share his iCloud password in the presence of forensic experts from the State Police.

A Bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R Mahadevan issued the direction while hearing Rao’s anticipatory bail plea. The Telangana Government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, had sought to vacate the earlier interim protection from arrest granted to him, citing lack of cooperation in the investigation.

The Solicitor General alleged that Rao had destroyed crucial electronic evidence by formatting his devices while under the court’s protection. “He was intercepting phones of important people — not just politicians. After filing his bail plea, he formatted the device. It’s as good as new. The CFSL confirms this. He bought 15 hard disks for backups but now claims he has none,” Mehta submitted.

Rao’s counsel, Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, refuted the allegations, asserting that his client had fully cooperated with the investigation. “I have been summoned 11 times and interrogated for 18 hours. Everything is on record. I am not hiding behind privacy; I am cooperating,” Naidu told the Court, explaining that Rao had merely forgotten the iCloud password.

He further assured that Rao would reset the password in the presence of forensic officers, adding, “I am not invoking the right to privacy; I am cooperating and deserve the liberty this Court granted me.”

Justice Nagarathna, however, questioned the alleged deletion of data. “You deleted the devices,” she remarked. Naidu responded, “It was standard protocol due to sensitive information. Department computer experts handled the deletion.”

Justice Mahadevan then asked, “What is the guarantee you haven’t deleted anything from the iCloud?” To this, Naidu replied that all activity logs could be verified by experts since “electronic footprints remain.”

Naidu also alleged that politicians and MPs had interfered in his client’s interrogation, prompting Justice Nagarathna to express disapproval: “It cannot be a tamasha! How can MPs and MLAs participate in an interrogation?” The Solicitor General denied this and offered to file an affidavit refuting the claim.

Countering political motive allegations, Naidu said, “The Chief Minister himself said I will be jailed—it’s their dream.” SG Mehta dismissed this as baseless.

After detailed submissions, the Supreme Court directed:

“As and when the petitioner is summoned, he shall reset and activate the password in the presence of forensic experts. We grant the second prayer sought by the State and extend protection granted to the petitioner until the next hearing.”

The ‘second prayer’ referred to the State’s request compelling Rao to provide access credentials to his iCloud and other cloud backups, along with details of devices or drives used prior to formatting.

The Court thus balanced Rao’s continued interim protection with his obligation to cooperate fully with the investigation.

Earlier, on May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court had directed the return of Rao’s passport to facilitate his return from the United States, while restraining coercive action. This followed the Telangana High Court’s rejection of his interim protection plea on May 3, 2025.\

Rao maintains that he travelled abroad before being implicated, while the Telangana Government insists he is an absconder, having faced passport cancellation and a red-corner notice.

Case Title: T. Prabhakar Rao v. The State of Telangana

Case No.: SLP (Crl) No. 7354/2025