Phone tapping row: Congress demands resignation of Devendra Fadnavis

Nagpur: Maharashtra Congress president and MLA Nana Patole on Thursday demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, for "shielding" culprits in an alleged phone tapping case.

Talking to reporters in Nagpur, which is hosting the winter session of the state legislature, Patole maintained the Opposition will consider moving a no confidence motion against Assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar if he continues to behave in a "biased" manner.

"Why is the government backing the culprits in the phone tapping case?" the Congress legislator asked.

Patole said in 2016-17, when the state was under the Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dispensation, phones of public representatives, government officials and journalists were illegally tapped.

Cases were also registered against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in this regard, he said.

Shukla headed the Maharashtra State Intelligence Department and also served as the Pune police commissioner during her tenure in the state. The IPS officer is now on central deputation serving as additional director general of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Hyderabad.

"But the present government (Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party dispensation) is trying to give her a clean chit when an inquiry committee has also found her guilty. This episode is from the time when Fadnavis was the Chief Minister and Home Minister and he is still the Home Minister," Patole said.

Notably, a Pune court has directed local police to investigate further the alleged phone tapping case against Shukla after the police filed a closure report citing lack of evidence Patole demanded the resignation of Fadnavis and accused the Eknath Shinde-BJP government of trying to "suppress" the phone tapping case.

The Congress MLA claimed phones of public representatives, journalists and government officials were tapped by giving them different names.

''This is an attack on our individual liberties. When Fadnavis was the Home Minister (in BJP government), he allowed blackmailing. During the tenure of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (November 2019-June 2022), cases were registered against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla and she was investigated." Shukla has also admitted that she was wrong, but as soon as this government assumed office (in June 2022), attempts were made to suppress the phone tapping case, Patole alleged.

"The Pune police filed a closure report in a court, but the court pointed out that there was a need for further investigation (in the phone tapping case). Why is the government supporting these criminals when phone tapping is a serious crime? When Fadnavis was the CM (2014-19), he started giving clean chits in cases where serious complaints were made and he continues to do that even now," he said.

The Opposition wanted a discussion on the phone tapping issue in the Assembly, but this was not allowed by the Chair, said Patole, a former Assembly Speaker.

''In the House today (Thursday) we demanded to discuss the phone tapping case but the Speaker did not allow us to speak. The government is trying to gag the opposition. It is the Speaker's job to protect the members of the House, but our rights are not being protected," he said.

The Speaker should not be biased and must conduct House proceedings according to established rules, Patole said.

"So we boycotted the House proceedings. If the Speaker continues to behave in a biased manner, we will consider moving a no-confidence motion against him," he cautioned. PTI MR RSY RSY