HC relief to IPS Rashmi Shukla in phone tapping case

Mumbai, March 4 : The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim protection from coercive action to IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in connection with an FIR filed against her in Pune in an alleged phone tapping case. A Division Bench of Justices SS Shinde and Nitin Borkar said the FIR was registered after “a considerable delay” and prima facie it appeared she has been “singled out” in it. The FIR was registered against her last week at the Bund Garden police station. Shukla was granted protection from arrest until further court orders. The court will next hear the matter on March 25. Shuka moved the high court claiming that the alleged incident of illegal phone tapping took place over three years back, while the Pune police’s FIR was registered against Shukla only on February 25. Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani representing Shukla informed the court that while several other officers of the Maharashtra police were involved in obtaining the sanction for putting certain phone numbers under surveillance, the FIR was registered only against Shukla. AAA ING