KTR serves defamation notice to Bandi Sanjay in phone tapping case

Former minister and BRS working president K T Rama Rao on Tuesday served a defamation notice to BJP leader and Union minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar over his statements on the illegal phone surveillance carried out allegedly by the previous BRS government.

Threatening legal action, the notice asked Bandi Sanjay to tender an unconditional apology to Rao, popularly known as KTR and cautioned him against making any such defamatory statements against him or his family in the future.

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Rao’s lawyer stated that the Union minister had made certain defamatory statements against his client, including that the State Intelligence Branch (SIB) was misused by Rao for personal and political purposes.

“Our client states that, being an Hon’ble minister of state for home affairs and a member of Lok Sabha, it was appalling that such statements are being made by you against a member of the Legislative Assembly of Telangana and his father, who is the ex-chief minister of Telangana, without any basis or proof whatsoever.”

The notice further stated, “You are misusing your status as a minister to impute false conduct on the part of our client and to impress the general public and make them believe such statements which will impact our client’s goodwill and tarnish his reputation.”

It was alleged that Bandi Sanjay made such statements to gain cheap publicity, motivated by personal and political benefits and vendetta.

It further demanded an unconditional apology to KTR and if the BJP leader failed to comply with it Rao threatened to initiate legal action against the Union minister.

After deposing before the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Bandi Sanjay had said SIB was formed to counter Maoists but was misused during the BRS regime against the Opposition. He had said that his name was put up on the list along with Maoist activists to justify tapping.

He also alleged that more than 6,500 phones were tapped, including High Court judges and businessmen and even KTR’s sister, Kalvakuntla Kavitha and her husband.

KTR had also served a defamation notice to Congress minister Konda Surekha when she had made certain unsavoury accusations against him. Recently, the court directed the police to file a case against the minister in the defamation case.