Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rashmi Shukla has approached the metropolitan magistrate court in Mumbai for discharge in connection with the case registered with the Colaba police for illegal phone tapping of Shiv Sena member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse.
Shukla has sought discharge saying that the charge sheet was filed against her without obtaining sanction from the Maharashtra government to prosecute her.
The magistrate court has asked the prosecution to file their reply on the plea and scheduled the matter for hearing on January 31.
Shukla, who was then commissioner of the State Intelligence Department (SID), had allegedly tapped the phones of Raut and Khadse. Mumbai police in April last year submitted a 700-page charge sheet against the senior IPS officer, who is presently on central deputation.
According to the police, she had illegally secured permission for surveillance from the home department by changing the name of Raut to S Rahate, claiming that he is an anti-social element.
One of Raut’s phone numbers and two phone numbers of Khadse were kept under surveillance, the charge sheet said.
Shukla had allegedly changed the name of Khadse to Khadasne and sought to tap the NCP leader’s phone for “special reasons,” police officials familiar with the matter said, adding that the revelation of these facts led the police to add sections of forgery in the case.
