Ashok Gehlot’s ex-OSD arrested by Delhi Police in 2021 phone tapping case

“I have been cooperating with the authorities and I have done all that I could have from my end. I have shared my views publicly and also given my statement and provided evidence to the Crime Branch. Now, further action should be taken, and I believe it (the arrest) is a step in that direction,” Sharma told The Indian Express.

In an FIR lodged in Delhi in March 2021 based on the complaint of Union minister and Rajasthan BJP leader Shekhawat, Sharma and others were accused of criminal conspiracy and “unlawfully intercepting telegraphic signals (telephonic conversation)”.

These interceptions pertain to the 2020 leak of three audio clips purportedly involving one Gajendra Singh – alleged to be the Union minister – a middleman, Sanjay Jain, and then Congress MLAs Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh. In the tapes, they were purportedly heard planning to topple the Gehlot government in the state. Subsequently, the Congress government was rocked by a rebellion of 19 MLAs led by then Deputy CM Sachin Pilot.

On November 14, Sharma had withdrawn his petition in Delhi High Court seeking to quash the FIR. This had effectively lifted the stay on his arrest by Delhi Police. On November 21, Sharma secured anticipatory bail.

Following the change in government in Rajasthan in December 2023, Sharma had changed his stance in the case and levelled allegations against Gehlot.

Ahead of the voting in Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan earlier this year, Sharma had alleged that during the 2020 political crisis, the phones of party rebels, including Sachin Pilot, were tapped and their movements were tracked at Gehlot’s behest. He had also alleged that it was the then CM himself who gave him a pen drive with the audio clips and that he was asked to share it with journalists. Sharma also shared call recordings of Gehlot, where Gehlot was purportedly asking Sharma whether he had destroyed the evidence.

This was a significant shift from Sharma’s earlier stance, wherein he had claimed that he received the clips from social media and circulated them among journalists.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Monday, Sharma said, “All the names that I have taken, be it of Ashok Gehlot or other officials involved in phone tapping, the investigation should now proceed in that direction. There are 8-10 people who are involved in the process when someone’s phone is kept under surveillance.” He claimed that the then DGP, Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, and others should be questioned and that this would “make it clear whether the interception was legal or not”.

Sharma has previously been questioned by Delhi Police on several occasions, including this September. The same month, the Supreme Court allowed the Rajasthan government to withdraw the suit in which it had challenged the Delhi Police’s jurisdiction to investigate the phone tapping case.

Delhi Police officers on Monday said the investigation is not over. They confirmed that additional evidence has been collected, and based on its analysis, more arrests may be possible in the coming days. A senior police official said, “The investigation is progressing steadily. We will act on any concrete evidence and take appropriate action against those involved.”