A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran was urged by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI director, to take up the plea on September 26 instead of September 29. It also noted Venkat Rao was not specifically named as one of the state's representatives in the SIT. Consequently, the high court held that he could not assume investigative powers in the matter. The order came on a plea filed by Kaduru Chinnappanna, who alleged harassment at the hands of Rao. According to Chinnappanna, he was repeatedly summoned by Rao, compelled to appear before the SIT office at Tirupati, and pressured into giving "scripted false statements".