Maha: Another FIR registered against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla for `illegal phone tapping’

Mumbai: An FIR has been registered against senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in connection with alleged phone tapping at a police station in south Mumbai, an official said on Friday. Earlier in the day, the Bombay High Court granted her protection from arrest in a similar case registered in Pune.

Shukla is currently on central deputation and posted as Additional Director General of Police (Central Reserve Police Force) at Hyderabad.

The new First Information Report was registered at Colaba Police Station under the Indian Telegraph Act besides relevant sections of the IPC, a police official said.

The alleged illegal phone tapping had taken place when Shukla headed the state intelligence department (SID) in Maharashtra, the official added.

Earlier, Pune Police had registered an FIR against Shukla at Bund Garden police station in connection with alleged illegal tapping of the phones of Congress leader Nana Patole when a BJP-led government was in power in the state.

The cyber wing of the Mumbai crime branch had also registered an FIR against unidentified persons earlier over alleged phone tapping and leak of confidential documents about police transfers during Shukla’s tenure as SID chief, and even recorded her statement.

But this FIR, registered under the Official Secrets Act at BKC Police Station in Mumbai in March 2021, did not name her as accused.

Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court on Friday restrained the Pune police from taking any coercive action against Shukla till March 25.

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 FIR.

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

Shukla was posted as Pune police commissioner between March 2016 and July 2018.