Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Credit: PTI Photo
The Delhi Police Crime Branch has summoned Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's Officer On Special Duty (OSD) Lokesh Sharma for interrogation in a phone tapping case on October 10, official sources said here.
The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear on October 11 the crime branch's application seeking vacating of an interim order staying coercive action against Sharma.
Sharma received a notice from the crime branch on Monday, shortly after the election code of conduct came into force, the sources said.
He was recently made the co-chairman of the Congress Central War Room for the Rajasthan assembly election. Sharma is also seeking a Congress ticket from the Bikaner West seat.
The Delhi Police registered an FIR on March 25, 2021, against Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telegraphic signals (telephonic conversation) based on a complaint by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the BJP MP from Jodhpur.
Sharma moved the Delhi High Court, seeking the quashing of the FIR. The court on June 3, 2021, gave the interim stay on coercive action against Sharma which is continuing.
Sharma has appeared before the crime branch four times so far. He was quizzed by the crime branch for about nine hours in March this year.