Pune Police lodge FIR against former Pune CP Rashmi Shukla in connection with illegal phone tapping case

An FIR has been lodged against former Pune Police Commissioner and State Intelligence Department (SID) commission Rashmi Shukla in connection with the illegal phone tapping case at Bund Garden Police Station on Saturday. The case has been lodged under the sections 26 of the Indian Telegraph Act. IPS Shukla is presently the additional director general of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) ’s South Zone in Hyderabad, was heading the the State SID when the incident took place. Shukla is handling three sectors –Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry under her current jurisdiction.

After registration of the FIR, Pune city police issued a statement, “During the monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly in 2021, based on some questions the state government had formed a committee to investigate all phone tapping cases between 2015 to 2019. The three members committee was headed by the then DGP Sanjay Pandey.

The committee submitted a report which was accepted by the state government. Accordingly, an FIR has been registered against Shukla who was then police commissioner and other officials.”

The Bombay High Court in December last year rejected a plea by senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla challenging the FIR lodged by Mumbai Police in March under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) against unidentified persons for allegedly tapping phones and leaking confidential documents.

Maharashtra State Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte in his report to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had stated that Shukla had leaked the phone tapping details related to corruption in transfer of police officials racket and misused the machinery for illegal phone tapping. The CM had asked for the report after Leader of Opposition in the assembly Devendra Fadanvis had alleged that the state government had suppressed details related to Shukla’s report on corruption in transfer of police officials.

On March 26, 2021, the Mumbai Police lodged the First Information Report (FIR) at the Cyber Crime Police Station, Mumbai stating that on March 23, 2021, Devendra Fadnavis, the Leader of the Opposition, during an interview on a television news channel showed copy of the secret confidential report addressed by Rashmi Shukla, the Commissioner State Intelligence Department to the Director General of Police.

Fadnavis also showed a pen drive containing sensitive confidential material concerning the police force in Maharashtra obtained by State Intelligence Department through interception. The FIR was was registered with Cyber Cell, BKC, Bandra (East) against unknown persons on the allegation that confidential material received through legal interception was illegally obtained and supplied to an unauthorised person, thereby committing offences under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, Information Technology Act, 2000 and, the Official Secrets Act, 1923. Apprehending arrest after being summoned by BKC Cyber Police Station , Shukla approached the high court seeking quashing of the FIR.