Maha govt denies permission to prosecute IPS officer in phone-tapping case

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the home minister of Maharashtra, said that adequate proof was not available against Shukla

Mumbai: Days after the Pune police filed a closure report in the phone-tapping case pending against 1988 batch IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, the home department has denied permission to the Mumbai police to prosecute her in yet another phone-tapping case filed in Mumbai. The developments are seen as steps towards clearing the decks for Shukla’s appointment in Mumbai in a key posting.

Shukla has an FIR registered against her in Colaba Police Station for tapping the phones of political leaders like Sanjay Raut and Eknath Khadse without taking due permission from the home department. (HT Photo)

Shukla has an FIR registered against her in Colaba Police Station for tapping the phones of political leaders like Sanjay Raut and Eknath Khadse without taking due permission from the home department. The tapping took place during her tenure as the State Intelligence Department (SID) commissioner in 2020. She is also facing two other cases—the aforementioned Pune one when she was the city’s police commissioner between March 2016 and July 2018 and the other for leaking the report related to the tapping.

The SID had registered a case with the cyber police with regard to the leaked report. The Shinde-Fadnavis government, soon after being sworn in, however, transferred the case to the CBI. The Mumbai police had submitted an affidavit in court with regard to the case registered at Colaba Police Station and had filed a chargesheet in court.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the home minister of Maharashtra, said that adequate proof was not available against Shukla. “The decision of not giving permission for prosecution was taken after the law and judiciary and home department opined that the sections under which the officer was booked were wrongly applied,” he said. “The responsibility for the alleged tapping was wrongly fixed on her. 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 victimisation.”

Once her name is cleared in the pending cases, Shukla could come back to her home cadre of Maharashtra. “Though there are rumours that she may be appointed the police commissioner of Mumbai, it is not expected to happen before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls, which are likely to be held in early 2023,” revealed an official from the home department. “Till then, she may be given some other responsibility. She has nearly three more years in service and is keen on returning to the state.”

Shukla, in the third week of August, had met Fadnavis in Mumbai, followed by a brief meeting with chief minister Eknath Shinde in Delhi on September 22. Amid the controversy over the phone-tapping, the officer had opted for the central deputation in February 2021.