On ‘illegal phone tapping’ of politicians, Pune court orders further probe against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla

Sources in the police said that a court has asked the police to investigate the case further on certain points. Hence, the court has not considered the closure report submitted by police.

Last year, Congress state president Nana Patole had alleged that his phone was tapped during 2016-17 (when he was a BJP MP). He claimed that phones of Union Minister Raosaheb Danve’s personal assistant, then BJP MP Sanjay Kakade and other elected representatives were also tapped.

NCP MLA Dilip Walse Patil, who was the home minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, had announced that the government would probe Patole’s allegations. A three-member committee was formed to probe the matter.

Based on the findings of the inquiry, Assistant Inspector Vaishali Chandgude lodged the FIR against Shukla. It was alleged that despite being aware of the legal process for phone tapping, Shukla did not follow rules and carried out phone tapping with “bad political motives”.

Meanwhile, in July, the political situation in Maharashtra changed and the BJP again came to power by forming an alliance with the Shiv Sena camp led by Eknath Shinde, who became the chief minister.

On October 7, the Pune City Police filed a C-Summary report claiming that the FIR in this case was found to be based on a mistake of fact.

Also, with the MVA coalition alleging that Shukla tapped phones without permission, following a complaint by the State Intelligence Department, the Mumbai Police lodged another FIR in March 2021 under the Official Secrets Act against the accused.