News Analysis India

Tag: Rashmi Shukla

  • Centre protecting IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in phone tapping case: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed the Centre is protecting IPS officer Rashmi Shukla who is being probed for alleged phone tapping of certain political leaders. Talking to reporters here, Raut said be it Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, himself or some other leaders, all were labelled “anti-social elements” and their phones were tapped.

    Some people were labelled as “drug peddlers and gangsters” and this happened when the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was being formed in November 2019, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed.

    “Someone was conducting surveillance on us and trying to find out about the formation of the new government. Our privacy was invaded… One police officer, who is expected to work impartially, was doing it to show her loyalty to one political party and a leader. Now the Centre is protecting her, like always. This is unfortunate,” Raut said without naming Shukla, a former head of the State Intelligence Department (SID).

    The senior IPS officer is facing an FIR in Mumbai and is being probed for allegedly putting the phone numbers of Raut and former BJP leader Eknath Khadse (who is now in the NCP) under surveillance when she headed the SID.

    The Pune police had also registered an FIR against Shukla in connection with alleged tapping of the phones of Patole. Shukla served as the Pune police commissioner between March 2016 and July 2018.

    She is currently posted with the Central Reserve Police Force. In a plea filed in the Bombay High Court in one of the alleged phone tapping cases, Shukla had claimed she was being “falsely implicated” and called herself a victim of “political vendetta”.

  • Bombay HC grants interim protection to IPS officer Rashmi Shukla till March 25 in phone tapping case

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday restrained the Pune police from taking any coercive action against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla till March 25 in connection with the FIR registered against her recently in an alleged phone tapping case.

    A bench of Justices S S Shinde and Nitin Borkar said that Shukla deserved to be granted protection from arrest in the case until further orders, since prima facie it appeared that she had been “singled out” in the present FIR registered against her last week by the Bund Garden police station in Pune.

    The bench also noted in its order that the said FIR had been registered against Shukla after a considerable delay.

    It took note of Shukla’s counsel and senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani that though the alleged incident of illegal phone tapping had taken place over three years ago, the Pune police’s FIR was registered against Shukla only on February 25 this year.

    Jethmalani further said that while several other officers of the Maharashtra police had been involved in obtaining the sanction for putting certain phone numbers under surveillance, the FIR had been registered only against Shukla.

    The Maharashtra government’s counsel Y P Yagnik, however, opposed Shukla’s request for interim protection from arrest.

    He further sought some time to file a reply to her plea saying that a copy of the petition had been served to him only on Thursday.

    Yagnik urged the high court not to pass any interim orders on the plea.

    The bench, however, said that Shukla had made a case fit for ad-interim relief and that in passing its order, the high court was merely following the mandate of the Supreme Court.

    “We will pass appropriate orders. As per the petitioner’s submissions, you (state police) are filing the FIR after three-and-a-half years of the alleged cause of action,” the HC said.

    “Is it not a case of malafide action that while apparently several officers are involved, the FIR is filed against only one officer? She is a serving IPS officer, holding a responsible post in Andhra Pradesh. Where is the scope of her absconding?” it said.

    While Yagnik argued that the court was considering “only one side of the case,” Jethmalani argued that Shukla had been singled out and therefore, prayers in the petition deserved consideration.

    Jethmalani further said that though a number of officers were involved in the process of alleged surveillance and phone interception on the basis that the said phone holders were supplying narcotics to college students, nobody else had been named in the said FIR.

    The senior lawyer also told the HC that none of the phone numbers allegedly intercepted were registered in the name of any politicians.

    The HC then said that prima facie, it was “convinced” that Shukla deserved to be granted protection until further orders.

    “First of all, there is a delay in registering the FIR. Secondly though other officers were involved in obtaining sanction for the surveillance of certain phone numbers, FIR is only against the petitioner,” the high court said in its order.

    “Thirdly, the petitioner is a high-ranking officer and is occupying a responsible post of ADG with the CRPF, Hyderabad. It is unlikely that she will abscond. Therefore, she needs to be given protection,” it said.

    The HC bench also recorded in its order that Jethmalani, on the instructions from Shukla, said that she was willing to extend “full cooperation” to the police in its probe in the case.

    The HC granted two weeks to the Pune police to file its reply to Shukla’s plea.

    It posted the matter for further hearing on March 25 and said that no coercive action must be taken against Shukla in the case until then.

    Shukla, who was posted as Pune police commissioner between March 2016 and July 2018, is presently on central deputation and posted as additional director general of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Hyderabad.

    The FIR was filed against Shukla under relevant sections of the Indian Telegraph Act for alleged illegal tapping of phones of politicians between 2015 and 2019 during her tenure as the Pune police commissioner.

    Seeking to quash the FIR, the IPS officer has said in her plea that she was being “falsely implicated” in the case and that she was a victim of “political vendetta”.

  • Koregaon Bhima commission summons IPS officers Param Bir Singh, Rashmi Shukla

    By PTI

    PUNE: A commission which is conducting inquiry into the violence that took place near the Koregaon Bhima war memorial in Pune district on January 1, 2018, on Friday summoned former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and his fellow IPS officer Rashmi Shukla.

    Incidentally, the Maharashtra government, in another case, told the Bombay High Court earlier this week that Singh, now Director General of Home Guard, was “untraceable”.

    Justice (retired) J N Patel, who heads the inquiry commission, passed the order on an application filed by advocate Ashish Satpute seeking the presence of the two IPS officials.

    Singh was Additional Director General (Law and Order) during the relevant period so it was necessary to summon him to “bring forward true and correct facts, intelligence inputs as well as the information received by him,” said Satpute, who is the commission’s lawyer.

    Likewise, Shukla was Pune police commissioner when the incident took place and should be summoned, the lawyer said.

    Justice Patel said in the order that considering the posts Singh and Shukla held when the incidents of violence took place at Koregaon Bhima, they must have received “valuable inputs”.

    They can also file affidavits if they wish, Patel said, asking them to reply to summons by November 8.

    Shukla is now Additional Director General of CRPF and posted at Hyderabad.

    As to Param Bir Singh, who is facing at least four cases of extortion in the state, the Maharashtra government had said two days ago that it did not know his whereabouts.

    Violence broke out between caste groups near the War Memorial during the bicentennial anniversary of the 1818 battle of Koregaon Bhima on January 1, 2018.

    Dalit organizations commemorate the victory of the East India Company over the Peshwa of Pune in the battle because British forces included soldiers from the oppressed Mahar community.

    But some right-wing organizations opposed the celebration in 2018, leading to violence.

  • Clarify if IPS officer Rashmi Shukla is to be named as accused in phone tapping case: HC to Mumbai Police

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the city police to clarify if they intend to name senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla as an accused in a case of illegal phone tapping and alleged leaking of confidential documents related to police transfers and postings in Maharashtra.

    A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal asked the police to also inform the court by October 25 about the progress made in the investigation, while noting that the FIR in the case was lodged in March this year.

    The HC was hearing a petition filed by Shukla, seeking to quash the FIR and also that the probe into the case to be transferred to the CBI, which is already conducting an investigation against Maharashtra’s former home minister Anil Deshmukh.

    Shukla’s counsel Mahesh Jethmalani pointed out to the court the affidavit filed by the police in the plea in which they have stated that Shukla has not been named as an accused in the FIR.

    Senior counsel Darius Khambata told the HC that the petitioner has not been named as an accused yet, but the probe is on to ascertain who was responsible for the leaking of sensitive government documents.

    The bench then said if Shukla has not been named as an accused and if the police do not intend to name her, then the court should not waste its time hearing the petition.

    “If she (Shukla) is not going to be named as an accused, then why should we hear this petition? We are only on (the point of) not wasting judicial time,” the bench said.

    “You (police) clarify whether or not she is going to be named as an accused. Then, as and when she is named as an accused, she can move the court again,” the HC said.

    The court posted the matter for further hearing on October 25. Shukla in her petition alleged that she was being made a scapegoat and targeted by the Maharashtra government for submitting a report on alleged corruption in police transfers and postings.

    The plea further said the State Intelligence Department (SID), which she was heading at that time, had taken the required permissions from the state government’s additional chief secretary prior to the surveillance.

    Shukla is currently serving as the additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) South Zone and is posted in Hyderabad.

    In her plea, Shukla said she had exposed the alleged nexus between ministers and politicians and other gross corruption involved in assigning postings to police officers.

    The FIR was registered at the BKC Cyber police station in Mumbai against unidentified persons for allegedly tapping phones illegally and leaking certain confidential documents and information. The alleged phone tapping had taken place last year when Shukla headed the SID.

  • Phone tapping case: IPS Rashmi Shukla not named as accused, can’t seek quashing of FIR, Maharashtra to HC

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has told the Bombay High Court that senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla has not been named as an accused in the case of alleged illegal phone tapping and leaking of confidential documents related to police transfers and postings, and hence she cannot seek quashing of the FIR.

    In an affidavit filed on Saturday, the government said the investigation only pertains to how sensitive and confidential information was unauthorisedly leaked to third parties from the State Intelligence Department (SID) and has got nothing to do with the contents of the said documents.

    It further claimed that the offences are not in any way connected to the offences being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

    The affidavit was submitted in response to a petition filed by Shukla seeking quashing of the FIR, alleging that she was being made a scapegoat and targeted by the Maharashtra government for submitting a report on alleged corruption in police transfers and postings.

    The affidavit filed by Rashmi Karandikar, Deputy Commissioner of Police of the city police’s crime branch, said the FIR registered by the police is against “unknown persons” and hence the petitioner has no locus (standi) to file the plea seeking to quash the case.

    “The petition is not maintainable and ought to be dismissed on the ground that the petitioner has no locus as she is not named as an accused in the FIR,” the affidavit said.

    “The impugned FIR is registered against unknown persons and therefore the petitioner has erroneously proceeded on the basis that she has been purportedly falsely implicated in the case,” it said.

    The state government added that the petitioner was issued notices to merely provide fact and information in the investigation.

    It further said that the FIR is for commission of offences under the Official Secrets Act and the Information Technology Act.

    As per the affidavit, the offence is of unauthorised leakage of top secret and confidential information obtained by the SID pursuant to technical surveillance.

    “The offence to be investigated is the leakage of information and has nothing to do with the contents of the information leaked,” it said.

    “Even assuming, without admitting, that the sanctions were validly received (for surveillance), I state and submit that the information received pursuant to such surveillance constitutes information contemplated under the Official Secrets Act and thus leakage of such information constitutes an offence,” the affidavit said.

    It added that the information that was kept in the servers of the State Intelligence Department was downloaded and copied to a pen-drive and then unauthorisedly leaked to a third party without information.

    “This leak constitutes a cognizable offence under the Information Technology Act,” the affidavit claimed.

    Shukla, in her plea filed through senior counsel Mahesh Jethmalani and advocate Gunjan Mangla, had claimed that the SID had taken requisite permissions from the Additional Chief Secretary of the state government prior to the surveillance.

    The affidavit, however, claimed that as per a report prepared by the additional chief secretary on March 25, 2021, he (additional chief secretary) was misguided as to the purpose for which the permission was sought.

    The government also refuted Shukla’s allegations that the FIR was filed as an act of vendetta.

    “The petitioner’s contentions are misconceived and wholly devoid of merit,” it said.

    A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar will hear the petition on September 13.

    Shukla is currently serving as the additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force’s South Zone and is posted in Hyderabad.

    In her plea, she said she had exposed the alleged nexus between ministers and politicians and other gross corruption involved in assigning postings to police officers.

    The FIR was registered at the BKC Cyber police station in Mumbai against unidentified persons for allegedly tapping phones illegally and leaking certain confidential documents and information.

    The alleged phone tapping had taken place last year when Shukla headed the SID.

  • Data leak case: No evidence against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, her lawyer tells HC

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: There is not “a shred of evidence” against senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in a data leak case and she had been victimized for doing her duty, her lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani told the Bombay High Court on Saturday.

    Shukla, a former head of the Maharashtra state intelligence department (SID), has challenged an FIR registered by Mumbai police against unidentified persons for alleged illegal phone tapping and leak of sensitive documents related to police transfers.

    The state government was acting in a “malafide” (malicious) way, senior advocate Jethmalani told a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar.

    “There is not a shred of evidence against her. She has not committed any crime as alleged in the FIR. For arguments’ sake, even if she has, it has been done for justice and in public interest,” the lawyer said.

    Senior advocate Darius Khambata, the state’s lawyer, termed Jethmalani’s charges as “reckless and frivolous”.

    The petition seeks to quash an FIR registered for leaking data without authorization and is not concerned with the phone tapping issue or the CBI probe into alleged corruption in transfer of police officers in Maharashtra, he said.

    The court adjourned the hearing to September 4, asking the state government to file its reply to Shukla’s petition.

    Shukla, currently serving as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) south zone, was the head of the SID when the alleged tapping of phones took place.

    The FIR was registered after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis alleged corruption in police transfers citing a purported SID report on intercepted phone conversations.

  • Did intelligence chief take nod from CM for phone tapping, asks Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Thursday sought to know whether Rashmi Shukla had sought the nod of chief minister for tapping phone calls, a day after the senior IPS officer said the state government had given its permission for interception of certain phone numbers.

    Shukla told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that the Maharashtra government had given its permission for interception of certain phone numbers to authenticate complaints of corruption in police transfers and postings.

    Her counsel Mahesh Jethmalani had said that when Shukla was heading the state intelligence department, she was directed by the Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) to conduct surveillance of a few phone numbers.

    Shukla had then taken permission from the state government’s Additional Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte under provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, Jethmalani said, adding that from July 17, 2020 to July 29, 2020, Kunte had given permission to Shukla to carry out surveillance.

    Reacting to it, Malik told reporters here that Shukla’s lawyers have informed the court that she had sought proper permissions to tap certain phone numbers. However, she had “mislead” the officials and sought the permission, the NCP spokesperson alleged.

    “It is imperative to find out whether police officer Rashmi Shukla had taken permission from chief minister for tapping phone calls,” Malik said without taking any name. She had sought permission under the pretext of sedition and national interest, but, in fact, tapped the calls of political opponents,” he alleged.

    Malik, whose party shares power with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra, also claimed that Shukla was not transferred the way she has been telling about it. The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance led by Uddhav Thackeray came to power in Maharashtra in November 2019 after the Assembly polls.

    Before that, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis was the chief minister for five years. Shukla had moved the HC, challenging an FIR filed by the Mumbai police’s cyber cell in a case of illegal phone tapping and alleged leaking of sensitive documents related to police postings.

    She is currently serving as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) South Zone and is posted in Hyderabad. The alleged tapping of phones had taken place when Shukla headed the Maharashtra intelligence department.

    BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had cited a letter purportedly written by Shukla to the then DGP about alleged corruption in police transfers. The letter also had details of intercepted calls, leading to an uproar with leaders of the Shiv Sena-led ruling coalition alleging that Shukla tapped phones without permission.

    Before the registration of the FIR, Sitaram Kunte had alleged in a report submitted to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that it appears that Shukla herself had leaked the confidential report (to Fadnavis).

  • Won’t act till June 9 on info sought from Maharashtra government over IPS officer’s complaint: CBI to HC

    Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the CBI, made the statement before a vacation bench which was hearing a petition filed by the state government.

  • Phone tapping case: Mumbai police record statement of IPS officer Rashmi Shukla

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Mumbai cyber police have recorded the statement of senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in connection with a case of illegal phone tapping and alleged leaking of sensitive documents related to police postings, official said on Tuesday.

    Shukla’s statement was recorded last week in Hyderabad, where she is currently serving as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) South Zone, the official said.

    A team from the BKC cyber police station in Mumbai was in Hyderabad on May 19 and 20, the official said.

    Shukla has denied the allegations levelled in an FIR registered in connection with the case, the official said.

    The FIR was registered under the Official Secrets Act at the BKC cyber police station in Mumbai in March this year against unidentified persons for allegedly tapping phones illegally and leaking certain confidential documents on the complaint filed by the Maharashtra Intelligence Department.

    The alleged tapping of phones had taken place when Shukla headed the state intelligence department.

    BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had cited a letter purportedly written by Shukla to the then Maharashtra Director General of Police about alleged corruption in police transfers.

    The letter also had details of intercepted calls, leading to an uproar with leaders of the Shiv Sena-led ruling coalition alleging that Shukla tapped phones without permission.

    Before registration of the FIR, Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte had alleged in a report submitted to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that it appears Shukla herself leaked the confidential report (to Fadnavis).

    Last month, the police issued two summons (on April 26 and April 28) to Shukla, asking her to appear before the BKC cyber department in Mumbai for recording her statement.

    However, Shukla had skipped the summons.

  • Won’t arrest IPS officer Shukla till next hearing: Mumbai Police to HC

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Mumbai police told the Bombay High Court on Thursday that they would not take any coercive action or arrest IPS officer Rashmi Shukla till the next date of hearing of her plea challenging an FIR registered by the police in a case of alleged illegal phone tapping.

    Last month, the police issued two summons (on April 26 and April 28) to Shukla, asking her to appear before the BKC cyber department in Mumbai for recording her statement.

    However, Shukla had skipped the summons.

    The case also pertains to alleged leaking of sensitive documents related to police postings.

    Senior counsel Darius Khambata, appearing for the police, told a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and Manish Pitale on Thursday that a team of the cyber cell police would be sent to Hyderabad, where Shukla is presently posted, to record her statement in the case.

    The bench, which was hearing Shuklas petition, noted that the case pertains to offences under the Official Secrets Act, the Information Technology Act and the Indian Telegraph Act, which are punishable up to three years only.

    The petitioner is serving in Hyderabad.

    She may have not been able to appear before the police here for questioning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HC said.

    “We will hear this petition after the summer vacation. Until then it will be graceful on the state governments part to make a statement that it would not take any coercive action,” Justice Shinde said.

    To this, Khambata said the police would not take any coercive action or arrest the petitioner till the next date of hearing of the petition.

    “It is a fairly important investigation. We don’t know when the COVID-19 pandemic will end. Hence, the police are willing to send a team to Hyderabad where they could record the petitioners statement,” Khambata said.

    Shuklas counsel Mahesh Jethmalani said the IPS officer is willing to cooperate with the investigation into the case and the police team can record her statement in Hyderabad.

    The court accepted the statement and posted the plea for hearing in June.

    Shukla, a senior IPS officer of 1988 cadre, approached thr HC earlier this week, seeking for the case to be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and also sought an interim order of no coercive action.

    “The approach of the State is to arm-twist the petitioner by a bogus and frivolous case,” the plea alleged.

    Shukla is currently serving as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) South Zone and is posted in Hyderabad.

    The petition said Shukla had exposed the alleged nexus between ministers and politicians and other gross corruption involved in assigning postings to police officers.

    Instead of applauding and appreciating the work of the petitioner, the “government authorities are involved in framing the petitioner in a false criminal case”, it alleged.

    The FIR was registered at the BKC cyber police station in Mumbai against unidentified persons for allegedly tapping phones illegally and leaking certain confidential documents on the complaint filed by the Maharashtra Intelligence Department.

    The alleged tapping of phones had taken place when Shukla headed the state intelligence department.

    BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had cited a letter purportedly written by Shukla to the then Director General of Police about alleged corruption in police transfers.

    The letter also had details of intercepted calls, leading to an uproar with leaders of the Shiv Sena-led ruling coalition alleging that Shukla tapped phones without permission.

    Before registration of the FIR, Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte had alleged in a report submitted to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that it appears that Shukla herself had leaked the confidential report (to Fadnavis).