Nana Patole files Rs 500cr defamation suit against Rashmi Shukla

The legal troubles for Additional Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla are likely to multiply, as senior Congress Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Nana Patole has now filed a Rs 500 crore defamation suit against her.

Shukla, who has earlier served as the Pune police commissioner and the head of the State Intelligence Department, is currently embroiled in a controversy over alleged illegal phone tapping of senior political leaders, including Patole, who is the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

Apart from Shukla, who is currently posted with the Central Reserve Police Force, the suit also names the Pune and Nagpur police commissioners, the additional chief secretary (Home) of Maharashtra, the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, India and police inspector Vaishali Chandgude, technical analysis department, Pune Crime Branch as respondents.

The suit seeks a permanent injunction in order to prevent “misuse of illegally gathered information” as well as compensation to the tune of Rs 500 crore. It alleges that a conspiracy was hatched to damage Patole’s political career by representing him as a criminal and breaking the trust of the people that he had earned.

Earlier this year, the Bund Garden police station in Pune had filed an FIR against Shukla over the allegations of illegal phone tapping, and Shukla has visited the Colaba police station in Mumbai twice so far to record her statement in connection with the matter. The FIR was registered after a high level committee headed by Mumbai Police commissioner Sanjay Pandey submitted a report to the State government. Pandey was acting Director General of Police, Maharashtra at the time.