Hyderabad, May 30 -- A vacation bench of the Supreme Court of India, comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma, on Thursday directed the central government and passport authorities to restore the passport of T Prabhakar Rao, former chief of the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) of Telangana, or issue him a travel document.

The order is aimed at enabling Rao, currently in the United States, to return to India and appear before investigators in the ongoing phone tapping case within three days of receiving the Supreme Court's directive.

The bench's decision came despite strong opposition from the state of Telangana, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, and the investigation officer, represented by senior counsel...