A senior police officer, Mekala Tirupathanna, who is the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), has asked the Telangana High Court to grant him bail. Tirupathanna is one of six people accused in a phone-tapping case (crime no. 243 of 2024). On Friday, he filed a petition in the high court, requesting his release.
The other accused in the case include D Prabhakar Rao, a retired IPS officer (A-1), Dugyala Praneeth Rao, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) (A-2), Nayini Bhujanga Rao, an Additional Superintendent of Police (A-3), P Radha Krishan Rao, a retired DCP (A-5), and Aruvela Shravan Kumar Rao (A-6), a TV reporter. Notably, one of the accused, Bhujanga Rao, has already been granted bail on medical grounds.
The case involves serious charges, including conspiracy (Section 120-B), destruction of evidence (Section 201), criminal breach of trust (Section 409), and mischief causing damage (Section 427) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Additionally, sections of the Public Property (Prevention of Damage) Act, 1985, and the Information Technology (IT) Act have also been invoked.
Tirupathanna’s primary argument for bail is that the chargesheet in the case was filed on June 10 but was repeatedly rejected by the court due to incomplete details. He pointed out that the investigating officer failed to submit the final report within the required 60 to 90 days after the chargesheet was first filed. According to him, this delay entitles him to bail under Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
The chargesheet was initially rejected on June 18, then on June 25, and finally on July 11. It was only on July 11 that the court accepted the chargesheet and took cognisance of the case. Tirupathanna argued that since there was no valid chargesheet on June 22, when his bail application was filed, he should be released on default bail.
He further argued that the statutory power to keep an accused in custody under Section 167 of the CrPC ends after 60/90 days. In his case, however, he was kept in custody even after this period. Tirupathanna also mentioned that the investigation is complete, all material evidence has been collected, and he is willing to cooperate fully with the investigating officer.
The Telangana High Court will hear his bail petition on August 27.
