Rashmi Shukla’s report: HC quizzes Maharashtra govt’s refusal to give evidence to CBI

State government had opposed the plea contending that CBI’s request was vague and does not explain how the documents are relevant for its probe

The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday questioned the Maharashtra government over its refusal to handover Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rashmi Shukla’s 2020 report on corruption in police transfers and postings in the state to the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI).

The bench, however, said that the central agency cannot decide relevancy of the material without assessing it. (HT File)

CBI has included the topic of the report – prepared by Shukla last year when she was the commissioner of the state intelligence department – in its ongoing probe against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, and has moved an application before HC, complaining about the state government’s refusal to handover certified copies of the report, related documents and other materials collected by the IPS officer.

The division bench of justice SS Shinde and justice NJ Jamadar has now asked senior advocate Rafiq Dada – who represented the state – to inform the court on August 24 as to which documents was the government willing to handover to CBI. The bench, however, said that the central agency cannot decide relevancy of the material without assessing it.

The central agency has sought a direction to the state government to handover the report’s copy and other related documents for probe in the corruption case registered against Deshmukh on April 21.

The state government had opposed the plea contending that CBI’s request was vague and does not explain how the documents are relevant for its probe.

Additional solicitor general Aman Lekhi argued on behalf of CBI that the refusal to part with the material was nothing but contempt of HC’s July 22 order, by which the court had dismissed a petition filed by the Maharashtra government, seeking to drop the topic of Shukla’s report and reinstatement of controversial police officer Sachin Vaze in service.

CBI registered the offence after former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh on March 20 wrote an explosive letter to the chief minister, alleging that as home minister, Deshmukh had on number of occasions summoned some officers at his official bungalow and told them that they had a target of collecting ₹100 crore from bars and other establishments in the city.

The central agency has included the topic of Shukla’s report and reinstatement of Vaze in the purview of its probe in the case against Deshmukh and had sought the documents for investigation. The evidence includes materials pertaining to phone tapping and other digital proof which was seized on the basis of which Shukla’s report was made.

Shukla had purportedly tapped phones between July 17 and July 29, 2020, after a number of complaints were received at various levels in the police department and in Mantralaya that some persons were acting as conduits for senior officers to secure transfers at desired places and plum postings by paying the then home minister and one “Dada” from the power circle.