Key Takeaways
- The Bombay High Court quashed two FIRs against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla.
- Both FIRs alleged illegal phone tapping of senior political figures in Maharashtra.
- The state government did not grant the required sanction under Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
- Pune police had already filed a closure report for their FIR in January 2023.
Mumbai: Bombay High Court on Friday quashed two first information reports (FIRs) against senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rashmi Shukla after the government refused to grant permission to the Mumbai police for prosecuting her on the charges of alleged phone tapping of politicians in Maharashtra.
One FIR was registered by Marine Drive police station in Mumbai against Shukla, for allegedly tapping the phones of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse.
The other FIR was filed by the Pune city police, accusing her of tapping the phone of State Congress president Nana Patole during the previous BJP‑led government.
Advocate General Dr Birendra Saraf representing the state government informed the Court that sanction was not given to the Mumbai police by the Maharashtra government to prosecute Shukla under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
He also informed that the Pune city police had already filed a closure report in the Pune FIR in January 2023 and that no protest petition had been filed by the complainant.
In view of these submissions, the Court deemed it fit to quash both FIRs against Shukla.
