SIT to quiz KCR today
The BRS chief grudgingly agrees to appear before SIT at his residence
Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi president and former chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has grudgingly agreed to appear before the SIT (Special Investigation Team) in the phone-tapping case at his Nandi Nagar residence in Hyderabad on Sunday, after calling out the improper manner in which the notices were served on him.
In a detailed six-page letter addressed to Assistant Commissioner of Police (Jubilee Hills Division) P Venkatagiri, the former chief minister pointed out that he had already informed the police that he was over 65 years of age and residing at Erravalli in Siddipet district. As per law, his statement could be recorded only at his place of residence. He asserted that the police had no jurisdiction to issue a notice to him for examination within the Jubilee Hills limits, as he did not reside within that police station’s jurisdiction or adjoining jurisdictions. He objected strongly to the manner in which the notice under Section 160 of the Cr PC was served, stating that pasting a letter on the compound wall of his Nandi Nagar residence had no legal sanctity. He contended that such a mode of service was in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Supreme Court directions, and constitutional guarantees under Articles 14 and 21.
KCR decried that the police adopted double standards and the notice served on him in connection with the alleged phone-tapping case was illegal and without jurisdiction.
Citing the Supreme Court judgment in Satender Kumar Antil versus CBI and other subsequent rulings, Rao stated that notices under Sections 41A and 160 of the Cr PC must be served strictly in the manner prescribed by law, and that electronic modes or informal methods of service were not recognised. He further argued that ignoring these directions amounted to deliberate disregard of binding judicial orders.
The former chief minister pointed to “selective application of rules”, as, in the same case, a notice issued to legislator T Harish Rao was served in Hyderabad despite his official residence being shown as Siddipet, which, he said, exposed the shifting stands and double standards of the police.
