The alleged phone-tapping episode by IPS officer Rashmi Shukla rocked the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi staging a walkout.
The opposition staged the walkout after claiming that Speaker Rahul Narwekar was not allowing them to speak and discuss the matter in the House.
Shukla, a Maharashtra-cadre officer of the 1988-batch of the IPS, is currently an Additional Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
When the previous BJP-Shiv Sena alliance government was in power in the state between 2014-19, she had served several important posts like the Commissioner of Police in Pune and Commissioner of State Intelligence Department (SID).
It may be mentioned, that MVA leaders had alleged that in August, 2020, Shukla drafted a report indicating cash for transfers and promotions in Maharashtra Police which was forwarded by the then Director General of Police Subodh Jaiswal to the then Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and later Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte to be shown to the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. However, Thackeray passed on the report to the then Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and no action was taken.
“The case involves a grave violation of the privacy of political leaders, not only of the Opposition parties but of the BJP as well. Hence, we demanded a discussion under Rule 57 of the house to discuss this issue,” Leader of Opposition in Assembly Ajit Pawar said.
State Congress President and MLA Nana Patole, a former Speaker, raised the issue saying he was one of the leaders whose phone was allegedly tapped.
“Phone tapping infringes on his right as the member of the House,” Patole said and sought a discussion over the matter.
It may be mentioned, a Pune court has directed local police to investigate further the alleged phone tapping case against Shukla after the police filed a closure report citing lack of evidence.