Hyderabad, Aug 12 : Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao (KTR) has issued a legal notice to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar over what he termed as "baseless and defamatory" remarks in connection with the alleged phone-tapping controversy.

The notice demands an unconditional public apology from Bandi Sanjay to KTR and his family, along with an assurance that no such direct or indirect defamatory statements will be made in the future. It warns that failure to comply within seven days will result in both civil and criminal legal action, holding Bandi Sanjay fully liable for the damage caused.

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

The same day, KTR had demanded a public apology within 48 hours and warned that if Bani Sanjay failed to apologise, he would take legal action against him.

Bandi Sanjay claimed that KCR and KTR during the BRS rule tapped the phones of several political leaders, including their own family members and ministers and MLAs of their own party, businessmen, lawyers and celebrities.

The notice, sent through KTR's legal counsel, refers to statements made by Bandi Sanjay during a press conference on August 8, which, according to KTR, were 'false, irresponsible, and intended to damage his reputation.'

The lawyers stated that such accusations, made without any evidence, were unbecoming of a Union Minister and a Member of Parliament, and amounted to a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of another elected representative.

KTR's legal team accused Bandi Sanjay of repeatedly making unfounded allegations purely for political mileage and media attention. They further pointed out that KTR, who has served the state in various ministerial roles since the formation of Telangana, has an unblemished record of public service, and such defamatory propaganda was causing serious harm to his reputation.

The counsel stressed that not a single allegation made in the August 8 press meet was backed by proof, and accused the Union Minister of abusing his position to launch personal attacks. They cautioned that any further "wild, false, and malicious" statements would invite stricter legal consequences under the law.

After KTR had threatened to serve legal notice on August 8, Bandi Sanjay had said that the BRS leader would be ashamed to talk about legal notices after doing all the 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