Hyderabad, Sep 15 (IANS) A city court on Monday summoned Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a civil defamation suit filed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao for his allegations in the phone-tapping controversy.

The City Civil Court took up the hearing in Rama Rao’s petition seeking damages of ₹10 crore for making “false, malicious, and defamatory” allegations.

The Court issued summons to Bandi Sanjay Kumar, directing him to appear before it on December 15.

In his plaint, filed through his counsel P. Viswajanani of P.V. Janani & Associates, the BRS leader has also impleaded several media organisations and social media platforms that carried or circulated the statements.

The suit seeks mandatory removal of the defamatory content, an unconditional public apology from the Union Minister, and a perpetual injunction restraining further defamatory publications.

Rama Rao stated that on August 8, 2025, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, during a Press meet, made baseless remarks linking him to the misuse of Telangana’s Special Intelligence Branch (SIB), illegal phone tapping, and financial irregularities.

These comments, he said, were carried widely across television networks, as well as digital platforms. The content also spread through social media platforms including X, YouTube, Google, Facebook and Instagram.

Rama Rao argued that such remarks were made with political vendetta and amounted to a “vicious smear campaign” designed to tarnish his hard-earned reputation. He added that despite serving a legal notice on August 11, 2025, Bandi Sanjay Kumar failed to issue an apology, leaving him with no option but to approach the court.

“An elected Union Minister making such irresponsible and derogatory remarks has serious implications on the credibility, dignity, and trust of public representatives,” the plaint said.

Rama Rao had last month issued a legal notice to Bandi Sanjay Kumar demanding an unconditional public apology along with an assurance that no such direct or indirect defamatory statements will be made in the future.

The Central minister made the allegations against Rama Rao and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) after appearing before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) as a witness on August 8.

After Rama Rao had threatened to serve legal notice on August 8, Bandi Sanjay Kumar had said that the BRS leader should be ashamed to talk about legal notices after doing all illegal things.

“You’re a coward who hides behind legal notices. You unsuccessfully tried to do it in the past. I won’t fall for your monkey tricks. Bring it on. Ahead of Rakhi, you’re running away to avoid facing your own sister – whose phone was tapped, something she herself agreed. Let alone giving me 48 hours – your clock is ticking and your dark secrets will be exposed, leaving you with nowhere to hide,” the BJP leader had posted on X.

–IANS

ms/rad