Ashok Gehlot's OSD asked to appear before Delhi Police in phone-tapping case on May 14

The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police on Friday served a fresh notice to Lokesh Sharma, the officer on special duty (OSD) to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. In the said notice, the police have asked Sharma to appear for questioning in connection with a phone tapping case at 11 AM on Saturday, April 14. 

The development comes after a court cautioned the OSD that if he fails to co-operate in the investigation, the Delhi Police will have the liberty to file an application seeking revocation of the interim order, which has provided protection from coercive action by the police until July 15. The court was informed by the Police that he was not cooperating in the investigation, as he enjoyed the protection from arrest. 

Rajasthan phone-tapping case

Amid a rebellion against CM Ashok Gehlot led by his then Deputy Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan,  in July 2020, the phone-tapping controversy erupted after two audio recordings surfaced in which MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and alleged middleman Sanjay Jain are purportedly heard talking about a conspiracy to topple the government. 

In 2020, Chief whip Mahesh Joshi submitted a complaint to Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) for registration of an FIR in the matter. On the basis of the FIR, the SOG arrested Jain. However, no action could be taken against Sharma or Shekhawat, and there was no visible development in the case after the Congress High Command intervened and removed the dispute between Gehlot and the pilot for the time being. 

In 2021, Shekhawat, the BJP MP from Jodhpur then filed a complaint, on the basis of which the Delhi Police registered an FIR against Sharma and booked him for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telegraphic signals (telephonic conversation).