Mumbai :
Once again in Maharashtra, the issue of phone tapping of politicians has been hot. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has alleged through his column written in the newspaper that the BJP is tapping the phone of Deputy CM Eknath Shinde through the central government agencies. Raut claimed this to an anonymous MLA of Shinde Army, whom he had talks during a flight journey.
Allegations of phone tapping on ruling leaders in Maharashtra are not new. At the beginning of this century, Chhagan Bhujbal, the then Home Minister of Maharashtra, had to face similar allegations. Journalist Sanjay Singh, who revealed the famous Telgi scam, has alleged in his book that some corrupt officials of Mumbai Police were intercepting their phone calls at the behest of their political masters. Bhujbal’s name was engulfed in this dispute. Singh claimed that his calls were heard to obstruct the scam investigation.
Fadnavis was also charged in the first term of Fadnavis
During the tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi Sarkar, when Uddhav Thackeray was the Chief Minister, a phone tapping scandal was revealed. It was alleged that during the first Chief Minister’s tenure of Devendra Fadnavis, the State Intelligence Department (SID) had illegally tapped many leaders’ phones. These included Sanjay Raut, Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole and NCP leader Eknath Khadse, who were in opposition at that time. It was claimed that Raut’s phone was intercept for 60 days, while Khadse’s phone was under surveillance for 67 days. The current Maharashtra Police Chief Rashmi Shukla was the head of SID at that time.
There was a big political uproar in Maharashtra on allegations
Due to these allegations, there was a big political uproar in Maharashtra, after which criminal cases were registered against Shukla. She was on the verge of arrest but went on central deputation. After the change of power, when she returned to her original cadre, she was made the state police chief in the Eknath Shinde government. Finally, the Bombay High Court freed him from the cases registered against him.
Phone taping can be done only under special circumstances
The phone interception by government agencies in India is controlled under the Telegraph Act, 1885. Phone tapping can be done only by obtaining permission under special circumstances, such as the danger to public emergency, national security or public security, or to prevent any crime from inciting a crime. The approval of phone interception should be given by the Home Secretary of the concerned state or the Central Government. To spy on political opponents, it is illegal to tape the phone and is seen as misuse of power. If an officer is found guilty of illegal phone taping, he has a provision of punishment of three years.
Allegations of fresh phone tapping by Sanjay Raut have come under the backdrop of alleged differences between Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde. However, leaders of both BJP and Shiv Sena have rejected Raut’s claim. He believes that this statement of Raut is just a strategy to spread dissatisfaction in the Mahayuti alliance.
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