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Phone-tapping case: Ashok Gehlot’s former OSD turns approver

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

Lokesh Sharma was arrested by the Delhi Police last month but subsequently released on bail as he had secured an anticipatory bail the week before.

Lokesh Sharma, the former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of former CM Ashok Gehlot, Monday turned approver in the 2020 phone tapping case before the Patiala House Court in New Delhi.

In an FIR lodged in Delhi in March 2021 based on the complaint of Union Minister and Rajasthan BJP leader Gajendra Singh 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. The revelations subsequently led to then Deputy CM and Congress state president Sachin Pilot leading an unsuccessful rebellion of 19 MLAs.

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An application was submitted by Sharma seeking a pardon in the said FIR. On Monday, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) at Patiala House Court granted pardon to Sharma following a plea that he will provide a comprehensive and true disclosure of the facts related to the offence and other offenders, Sharma’s lawyers said.

The CJM also observed that Sharma’s statement is crucial in identifying other accused persons potentially involved in the criminal conspiracy.

Sharma was arrested by the Delhi Police last month but subsequently released on bail as he had secured an anticipatory bail the week before.

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