‘Then ACS has confirmed’: NCP reiterates Rashmi Shukla 'illegally' tapped phones

NCP leader and Maharashtra housing minister Jitendra Ahwad on Wednesday countered former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ claims, saying that then additional secretary, home, Sitaram Kunte, has confirmed that Shukla didn’t take his permission to tap phones. Kunte is currently the chief secretary of Maharashtra.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) reiterated on Wednesday that senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla “illegally” tapped phones of police officials and politicians in Maharashtra, countering former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ claims that the officer had “sought proper permission” to do so while preparing a report on alleged “money for transfer scam” in the state police department.

Former commissioner of intelligence Rashmi Shukla (HT File Photo)

“Former commissioner of intelligence Rashmi Shukla did not take permission for the tapping of the phones in question in the alleged corruption in police transfers,” NCP leader and Maharashtra housing minister Jitendra Awhad said on Wednesday. “Then additional chief secretary, home, who is the current chief secretary, has confirmed that Shukla did not take his permission for the tapping of the phones of the people mentioned in the report submitted by her,” Awhad further said.

The minister also claimed that Shukla “apologised after her wrongdoings came to light.” He also accused the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing her report to target the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition of which NCP is among three constituents. The Shiv Sena and the Congress are the other two members of the alliance.

“Shukla had a 'bad habit' of tapping phones illegally and had intercepted phones of political leaders during the formation of the three-party state government as well,” Awhad remarked, echoing fellow NCP leader Nawab Malik’s claims from the day before. The MVA was formed after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections which saw the Sena break its victorious alliance with the BJP and join hands with the NCP and the Congress.

Earlier, in a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday, Fadnavis, who is from the BJP, had said that Shukla had “sought proper permission” from then-ACS, home, Sitaram Kunte, and intercepted phone calls of several police officials and politicians. Malik, the Maharashtra minority affairs minister, had responded later in the day, saying that Shukla, who was then the Commissioner of Intelligence, had tapped phones “illegally.”

Shukla’s report has also been cited by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh in his petition in the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe against Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. In a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, Singh accused Deshmukh of running an “extortion racket” through now-suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze. Earlier in the day on Wednesday, the top court refused to entertain Singh’s plea, instead asking him to approach Bombay High Court first.

Shukla is currently serving as Special Director General (SDG), south zone, of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Following the tapping episode, in August 2020, she was transferred to the civil defence department in what Malik described as a “punishment posting.”