Phone tapping case: Mumbai Police seeks Centre’s nod to prosecute IPS Rashmi Shukla

The Colaba police station has informed a city magistrate court through an application that it is trying for a sanction order to prosecute IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in the phone tapping case in which the phones of some persons including Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut were allegedly intercepted.

The court was informed that a proposal has been sent to the centre seeking a sanction order to prosecute the IPS officer, who is now posted in Hyderabad.

The police had filed the charge sheet against Shukla in April. The court is yet to take cognizance of the charge sheet as it does not contain sanctions to prosecute Shukla.

While a sanction is required to prosecute public servants, the police had claimed while filing the charge sheet, that a sanction is not required to prosecute Shukla as she had committed the act, not as part of her official duties. A complaint had been lodged under Shukla on the complaint of an additional commissioner of police of the special branch under the Indian Telegraph Act among some sections of the IPC.

The charge sheet contained statements of persons whose phones were allegedly illegally tapped and included statements of Raut and NCP leader Eknath Khadse. Raut’s phone was allegedly tapped during the period when there were talks of an alliance for the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government after the 2019 assembly polls.

Khadse was then with the BJP and as per allegations, his phone was under illegal surveillance for two months.