Illegal phone tapping: NCP demands judicial probe against Rashmi Shukla

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) demanded a judicial probe into the Maharashtra government’s decision to refuse permission to the city police to prosecute senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rashmi Shukla in an alleged phone-tapping case registered in the Colaba police station.

NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said the state’s decision was akin to giving Shukla a “pardon” though there are cases registered against Shukla.

“Let the court investigate and decide who is guilty and not the government,” Tapase said on Friday.

The Colaba police in March registered a First Information Report based on a complaint lodged by additional commissioner of Police (Special Branch) Rajiv Jain accusing Shukla of tapping phones of Shiv Sena leader and Member of Parliament Sanjay Raut and NCP leader Eknath Khadse, when she headed the State Intelligence Department (SID). Following investigation, the police filed a 750-page chargesheet.

The government that had ordered the illegal phone-tapping case (against political leaders) is back in power and has stopped investigation against her, Tapase said.

Of the four cases filed in the alleged illegal phone-tapping case, only one – filed by the cyber crime cell against unknown persons in March 2021– remains. Earlier this month, the Pune police filed a closure report, bringing to an end an investigation into state Congress party chief Nana Patole’s claim that Shukla had tapped his phone in 2016-17 while she served as Police commissioner of Pune.

Last March, Devendra Fadanvis, then Leader of Opposition, claimed that Shukla had filed a report on the alleged corruption in transfers and postings of senior police officers in Maharashtra. He claimed that Shukla, then SID commissioner, had prepared the report on the basis of tapped mobile phone conversations of some politically well-connected persons, who purportedly ran a racket ensuring plum postings for police officers who paid bribes to the then home minister Anil Deshmukh and one “Dada.” The issue became a political hot-potato, and the then chief secretary Sitaram Kunte filed a report stating that Shukla had misused the machinery for illegally tapping phones, and leaked an official report. The cyber crime cell’s FIR was lodged soon after this.

In April, the Colaba police filed a chargesheet which stated that two of Khadse’s mobile numbers were under surveillance between June 21 and August 17, 2019 while one of Raut’s phone numbers was under surveillance twice between November 7 and 14, 2019. It also said that Shukla had allegedly changed the name of Khadse to Khadasne and mentioned the reason to tap his phone as ‘special reasons’. A proposal to get sanction for prosecution was pending with the state government, which was rejected on Thursday.

Last week, Khadse claimed that Shukla got a clean chit following her meeting with Fadnavis, now deputy chief minister and state home minister.

“It was obvious. The day Rashmi Shukla met Devendra Fadnavis it was sure that she will get a clean chit, accordingly her name was cleared from the case,” Khadse had said.

“The decision of not giving permission for prosecution was taken by the law and judiciary and home departments. The sections under which the officer was booked were falsely applied and the given act does not have the provision, according to the opinion. The responsibility for the alleged tapping was wrongly fixed on Shukla. The case was registered on the basis of photo copies of the documents. She was victimised by booking her in the case. The government cannot allow such victimization,” Fadnavis said on Thursday.

The 1988-batch IPS officer on central deputation as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force has maintained before the Bombay HC that the cases against her are instances of “political vendetta” and has received court-ordered protection from arrest in all cases.