A Pune court has ordered further investigation into the illegal phone tapping case of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) politicians involving senior IPS officer and former Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla after discovering some gaps in the investigation on two counts, according to a senior Pune Police official.
The court’s decision is seen as a major setback for the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, which had given Shukla a clean chit upon taking power.
IPS Shukla has held key positions including Pune Police Commissioner and is regarded to be very close to Deputy Chief Minister (DCM) Devendra Fadnavis in political and police circles.
“We have been asked to conduct additional investigation into the case on two counts and submit a report to the court. We will take the necessary steps in accordance with the Court’s instructions, “a senior Pune Police officer said.
The officer, however, declined to provide additional information, citing the fact that the order issued by Judicial Magistrate First Class had not yet been received by Pune police.
In October, the Pune Police filed the closure report in Shukla’s criminal case involving phone tapping. Amitabh Gupta, the then-Pune Police Commissioner and now Additional Director General (Prisons and Correctional Services) stated that the city police had filed a C-summary report with the court and that once the court accepted the report, the case was considered closed. Shukla, an IPS officer from the 1998 batch, is currently on central deputation as the additional director general of the CRPF in Hyderabad.
{{/usCountry}}In October, the Pune Police filed the closure report in Shukla’s criminal case involving phone tapping. Amitabh Gupta, the then-Pune Police Commissioner and now Additional Director General (Prisons and Correctional Services) stated that the city police had filed a C-summary report with the court and that once the court accepted the report, the case was considered closed. Shukla, an IPS officer from the 1998 batch, is currently on central deputation as the additional director general of the CRPF in Hyderabad.
{{/usCountry}}The case was filed against IPS Shukla at Bund Garden police station under section 26 of the Indian Telegraph Act, with the FIR stating that she illegally tapped the phone of state Congress chief Nana Patole during the reign of the previous BJP government.
The three-member committee headed by the director general of police Sanjay Pandey was formed to conduct an inquiry into alleged phone-tapping incidents between 2015 to 2019.
According to a press release issued by the Pune Police, the Maharashtra government announced during the monsoon session of the State assembly in 2022 that the state is ready to investigate allegations of illegal phone tapping.
In his report to the then Chief Minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray, state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte stated that Shukla had leaked phone tapping details related to corruption in the transfer of police officials’ racket and misused the machinery for illegal phone tapping.