Maharashtra chief secretary confirms illegal phone tapping by IPS officer

Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte has confirmed that the statersquos former intelligence commissioner Rashmi Shukla had illegally tapped the phones of private persons by misusing the permission sought under the pretext of keeping an eye on antinational elementsKunte who had granted Shukla permission as the then additional chief secretary home submitted a report to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeary on Thursday night The issue was debated in Wednesdayrsquos cabinet meeting in which the ministers wanted Shukla punished for the illegal tapping leaking of the report and sharing phone tapping data with Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis who submitted it to the Union Home Ministry seeking a CBI probe in the corruption in police transfers that Shukla had alleged in her lsquotop secretrsquo reportFadnavis said the CM had ignored the report when it was brought to his notice last year Shuklarsquos report deals with a period between September 2 and October 28 2020 Kunte said the IPS officer had sought his permission under the Indian Telegraph Act but misled the government by tapping the phones of the persons who turned out to be different from the listed purpose ldquoThe tapping provisionpermission is not used in political matters commercial disputes and family issues But in this episode the permission was used for the purpose which was entirely different This is very serious Shukla was asked to explain thenrdquo said Kunte in his report a copy of which was accessed by middayThe CSrsquos report is expected to expedite the initiation of action against Shukla who is serving a Central deputation in New Delhi The report says the confidential report appeared to be a copy of the documents she had with her in the official capacity almost charging her for the leak ldquoIf the leak is proved Shukla will be liable for facing actionrdquo recommended Kunte He also raised doubt over procurement of digital data a pen drive of phonetapping transcripts by the Opposition leader The cabinet members have demanded booking Shukla under the Official Secrets ActlsquoNo substance in her reportrsquoIn his report Kunte said he as ACS Home had submitted his recommendation to the CM on August 31 2020 He made observations that there was no concrete evidence except for socalled interpretation of CDR call record detail analysis and the nature of the inquiry was rovingldquoIn the absence of precise information launching a CID inquiry would be undesirable It will likely lead to a witchhunt and cause serious discontent among officers No tangible result or purpose will be achieved As a matter of fact as soon as such incident was noticed it was the duty of Commissioner SID Shukla and DGP Subodh Kumar Jaiswal to bring it to immediate notice of any superior authorities including ACS home CS and Home Minister Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister It was not done to the best of my knowledgerdquo observed Kunte on Shuklarsquos report in August 2020Kunte said in the period mentioned by Shukla all officers were busy in tackling the Coronavirus pandemic and the government neither proposed transfers nor shifted the officers ldquoThere was no need to act on Shuklarsquos report because in the then situation Shukla couldnrsquot have connected the conversation of private people to the transfer of Indian Police Service officersrdquo he said adding that there was a proper setup of establishment boards for deciding transfers The CS said when Shukla was asked to explain she met him Home Minister and Chief Minister ldquoShe expressed regrets and discussed her personal problems She asked for withdrawing the report but there is NO such provision in the government Action was not taken against Shukla out of sympathy and courtesy because she is a woman she had accepted her mistake and brought to our notice her personal problems like the untimely death of her husband and the children who are pursuing studiesrdquo noted Kuntersquos reportlsquoShukla leaked reportrsquoKunte said the confidential report he had received in August did not have a pen drive ldquoThe report along with the data on pen drive is now available with the media It appears that the leaked lsquotop secretrsquo document is copied from the one Shukla had with her as an official version This is very seriousrdquo he said