In a significant development in the phone tapping case, Telangana Home Department Special Chief Secretary Ravi Gupta has filed an affidavit with the Telangana High Court accusing T. Prabhakar Rao, the then Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief, of misleading authorities to secure unauthorized permissions for phone and internet interceptions.Gupta’s affidavit, submitted on Tuesday, details how Rao and his team allegedly circumvented established protocols to tap phones of various individuals across the state. Gupta, who served as the Home Secretary from October 2019 to December 2022—when the unauthorized tapping reportedly began—and later resumed his role as Special Chief Secretary on July 9 this year, claims that Rao’s actions were fraudulent and intended to benefit the ruling BRS government.According to Gupta, Rao was appointed as the SIB chief for a three-year term following his retirement from the intelligence wing. Gupta asserts that despite government orders allowing three senior IPS officers to authorize urgent interceptions without prior approval, all such actions were required to be later ratified by the competent authority, which was the Home Secretary.Gupta highlighted that, despite the state government’s GO issued on July 20, 2020, designating Rao as the authority for phone tapping, Rao’s team often ignored the necessary post-facto approvals. Gupta also alleged that Rao’s team tampered with evidence, including destroying hard discs containing important data on left-wing extremism, which had been collected over the years.In a separate affidavit, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Telangana High Court that the BRS government had not sought any central approval or instructions for the phone tapping activities. MHA Under Secretary Nutan Kumari clarified that state government home secretaries have the authority to issue interception orders under Rule 419-A of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951. The MHA stated that while the Home Secretary grants permission for interceptions, a committee headed by the Chief Secretary reviews these orders, which are valid for up to 180 days with possible renewals.The Telangana High Court is addressing these allegations as part of a suo motu writ petition, examining the legality and implications of the alleged phone tapping activities.