Did IPS officer Rashmi Shukla take nod from CM for tapping phones, asks Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik on Thursday sought to know whether Rashmi Shukla had sought the nod of chief minister for tapping phone calls a day after the senior IPS officer said the state government had given its permission for interception of certain phone numbersShukla told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that the Maharashtra government had given its permission for interception of certain phone numbers to authenticate complaints of corruption in police transfers and postingsHer counsel Mahesh Jethmalani had said that when Shukla was heading the state intelligence department she was directed by the Maharashtra Director General ofPolice DGP to conduct surveillance of a few phone numbersShukla had then taken permission from the state governments Additional Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte under provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act Jethmalani said adding that from July 17 2020 to July 29 2020 Kunte had given permission to Shukla to carry out surveillanceAlso read Interception of phones done with Maharashtra govts nod IPS officer Rashmi Shukla to Bombay High CourtReacting to it Malik told reporters here that Shuklas lawyers have informed the court that she had sought proper permissions to tap certain phone numbersHowever she had mislead the officials and sought the permission the NCP spokesperson allegedIt is imperative to find out whether police officer Rashmi Shukla had taken permission from chief minister for tapping phone calls Malik said without taking any nameShe had sought permission under the pretext of sedition and national interest but in fact tapped the calls of political opponents he allegedMalik whose party shares power with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra also claimed that Shukla was not transferred the way she has been telling about itThe Shiv SenaNCPCongress alliance led by Uddhav Thackeray came to power in Maharashtra in November 2019 after the Assembly polls Before that BJPs Devendra Fadnavis was the chief minister for five yearsShukla had moved the HC challenging an FIR filed by the Mumbai polices cyber cell in a case of illegal phone tapping and alleged leaking of sensitive documents related to police postingsShe is currently serving as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Forces CRPF South Zone and is posted in HyderabadThe alleged tapping of phones had taken place when Shukla headed the Maharashtra intelligence departmentBJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had cited a letter purportedly written by Shukla to the then DGP about alleged corruption in police transfersThe letter also had details of intercepted calls leading to an uproar with leaders of the Shiv Senaled ruling coalition alleging that Shukla tapped phones without permissionBefore the registration of the FIR Sitaram Kunte had alleged in a report submitted to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that it appears that Shukla herself had leaked the confidential report to FadnavisThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever