In Maharashtra phone tap case, Congress leader sues IPS officer, others for Rs 500 crore

Mumbai, Mar 24: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has filed a ₹ 500 crore defamation suit in a civil court here against IPS officer and former state intelligence chief Rashmi Shukla and others for alleged illegal tapping of his phone.

In the suit filed recently, Patole also sought a permanent injunction to stop the misuse of information collected through alleged illegal phone tapping.

On Wednesday, civil judge V B Gore issued notices to Ms Shukla and others, and asked them to file a reply before April 12.

Ms Shukla is presently on central deputation and posted as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Hyderabad Apart from Ms Shukla, notices have been served to police inspector (technical analysis department) at Pune crime branch Vaishali Chandgude, state home department's additional chief secretary, and police commissioners of Pune and Nagpur.

Patole, who is an MLA from Bhandara district, has alleged that the previous Maharashtra government (headed by BJP) conspired against him for political motives.

He filed the case through the state Congress's legal cell chairman Ravi Jadhav and secretary Vaibhav Jagtap. They were represented in the court by counsel Satish Uke.

Notably, the Mumbai police had recorded Ms Shukla's statement in connection with the case of alleged illegal tapping of phones.

An FIR was registered against Ms Shukla by the Colaba police in Mumbai earlier this month under the Indian Telegraph Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, following a complaint by senior police officer Rajiv Jain, who accused her of having put the phone numbers of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and NCP leader Eknath Khadse under surveillance.

Earlier, the Pune police had also registered an FIR against Ms Shukla in connection with alleged illegal tapping of the phones of 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 last year against unidentified persons over alleged phone tapping and leak of confidential documents about police transfers during Ms Shukla's tenure as state intelligence department chief.

(PTI)