ITEM NO.4 COURT NO.5 SECTION II S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No(s). 7354/2025 [Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 02-05-2025 in CRLP No. 4207/2025 passed by the High Court for The State of Telangana at Hyderabad]

T. PRABHAKAR RAO Petitioner(s)

VERSUS THE STATE OF TELANGANA Respondent(s)

IA No. 162342/2025 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS IA No. 123339/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED

JUDGMENT

IA No. 162343/2025 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.

IA No. 172402/2025 - INTERVENTION APPLICATION IA No. 138491/2025 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES IA No. 123340/2025 - PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES IA No. 237540/2025 - APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS Date : 14-10-2025 This matter was called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE B.V. NAGARATHNA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE R. MAHADEVAN For Petitioner(s) :Mr. Dama Seshadri Naidu, Sr. Adv.

Mr. S. Nagamuthu, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Anurag Kulharia, Adv.

Mr. Sumit Kumar Sharma, Adv.

Mr. Shanker Chhabra, Adv.

Ms. Aishwarya Jain, Adv. Ms. Anisha Mahajan, Adv.

Mr. Deepak Sharma, Adv.

Ms. Aakriti Jain, AOR For Respondent(s) :Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Sidharth Luthra, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Ramakant Reddy, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Kumar Vaibhaw, Adv.

Mr. Samba Siva Reddy, Adv.

Signa ture No t Ve rifi ed Ms. Devina Sehgal, AOR Digita lly s ign ed b y Mr. Mohit D Ram, Adv.

NEETU SACHDEVA Date: 2025.10.15 Reason:

Mr. Kartikey Dang, Adv.

Ms. Somaya Gupta, Adv.

Mr. K Parameshwar, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Manish Tiwari , AOR Mr. Basa Mithun Shashank, Adv.

Mr. Anthony Reddy Katakam, Adv.

Mr. Manish Tiwari, Adv.

Mr. Vinay Pratap Singh, Adv.

Mr. Rk Tanwar, Adv.

M/S. Godavari Law Associates, AOR UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following

O R D E R

We have heard learned Solicitor General and learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent/State who has filed I.A.No.237540/2025 seeking the following reliefs -

“A. Issue Direction(s)/order(s) vacating the interim order dated 29.05.2025 as extended until date forthwith due to the conduct of Petitioner set out above; and B. Strictly in the alternative, direct the Petitioner to furnish the true and correct ID passwords for iCloud/Cloud backups of digital devices submitted by him to the investigating agency, furnish the devices/drive details on which the backup of such digital devices was taken prior to formatting the submitted digital devices, and information sought in notice dated 03.09.2025 in the subject FIR No.243/2024;

C. Pass any other orders as deemed fit in the interest of justice.”

We have also heard the reply arguments of learned senior counsel on such application at length.

During the course of submissions, learned Solicitor General appearing for the applicant/State has brought to our notice a note on the alleged formatting of digital devices and contended that as a result of the formatting of the digital devices, there is no purpose in the investigation of the petitioner who has the protection of the interim orders of this Court. The investigation and interrogation have not progressed till date owing to the petitioner taking advantage of the interim order of this Court and not disclosing the true facts.

In this regard, the following table was submitted by learned Solicitor General to contend that owing to the alleged formatting of the devices and the report submitted by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in that behalf, there has been no meaningful investigation into the matter. He therefore, contended that custodial interrogation is required and therefore, the interim order dated 29.05.2025 as extended from time to time may be vacated, or alternatively a direction may be issued to the petitioner to furnish the true and correct passwords for iCloud/Cloud back-ups of digital devices submitted by him to the investigating agency, furnish the devices/drive details on which the back-up of such digital devices was taken prior to formatting them and furnish t