Maha Chief Secy submits report on Rashmi Shukla's probe to CM; hints at action against her

In a key development on Thursday, Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte submitted a report into the alleged police transfer racket to CM Uddhav Thackeray. He weighed in on the letter of Rashmi Shukla, the ex-Commissioner, State Intelligence Department dated August 25, 2020, to the then Maharashtra DGP Subodh Jaiswal, released in the public domain by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. Stressing that all transfers of police officers made between September 2-October 28, 2020 were based on the recommendations of the Police Establishment Board, he accused Shukla of misusing the permission obtained for phone tapping under the Indian Telegram Act.

According to Kunte, she tendered an apology in person to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and him. In a sensational claim, he alleged that the state government decided not to take any action against Shukla despite her owning up to her "mistake" on "humanitarian grounds. Setting the record straight on Fadnavis' allegations, the state Chief Secretary asserted that the recommendations of the Police Establishment Board were followed in an overwhelming majority of 167 IPS officers in 2020.

Refuting the claim that no action was taken on Shukla's report, he shared the summary of the findings into her claims presented to Thackeray on August 31, 2020. Maintaining that there was no concrete evidence barring for the Call Record Detail analysis, it was reasoned that launching a CID inquiry would be "undesirable". Moreover, it was held that this will lead to a witch-hunt and cause serious discontent among officers. Observing that no malpractice could be established in the report of the ex-State Intelligence Commissioner's report, Kunte concluded that strict action can be taken against her if it is proven that she leaked the "top secret" letter. 

Here is the Chief Secretary's report submitted to the Maharashtra CM:

Fadnavis rakes up Rashmi Shukla's 2020 letter

On Tuesday, Fadnavis submitted evidence equivalent to 6.3 GB of data to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, seeking a CBI probe into the police transfer racket in Maharashtra. As per the letter, Shukla informed Jaiswal that she had received complaints of a network of "brokers"- individuals with political connections ensuring desired postings for police officers in an exchange for "massive monetary compensation". Stating that the phone numbers of the suspects were placed under surveillance to ascertain these charges, she stressed that due procedure was followed.

Elaborating on the shocking details of the probe, she revealed that the aforesaid brokers are in contact with influential people and many police officers. Opining that there is highly incriminating evidence against a number of individuals in this activity, she attached a detailed report in this regard. The letter also called for the report to be immediately brought to the notice of the CM as it casts aspersion on the credibility and functioning of the government.

A day later, Jaiswal recommended to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Sitaram Kunte that the State CID (Crime) Pune should conduct an immediate inquiry into the matter. However, Fadnavis claimed that all officials mentioned in the transcripts of the intercepted calls got the same postings as desired. Moreover, he accused the CM of not taking any action on this report to "save his government" and highlighted that the state government transferred Shukla from the post. At present, she is serving as the Additional Director General in the CRPF on a deputation basis.