Expect new Maharashtra DGP to work within legal framework: NCP leader Khadse

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar group) leader Eknath Khadse on Thursday said he expects Maharashtra's new DGP Rashmi Shukla, who was named an accused in illegal phone tapping cases in the past, to work within legal framework.

Khadse, a former BJP minister who joined the NCP in 2020, was one of the politicians who had alleged his phones were illegally tapped when Shukla headed the state intelligence department.

On Thursday, the 1988-batch IPS officer was appointed Maharashtra's new Director General of Police (DGP), becoming the first woman to hold the top post in the state.

Khadse said Shukla's appointment as the DGP was on expected lines after the Shiv Sena-led government assumed office.

''Shukla had tapped my phone illegally for 65 days. I repeatedly raised this issue in the Legislative Council, but did not receive any convincing reply. It seems that since elections are round the corner, they want an officer who would listen to them and that's why she was made the DGP,'' he said.

Khadse was speaking to reporters at Shirdi in adjoining Ahmednagar district where the NCP (Sharad Pawar group) is holding its conclave.

''Earlier, she was tapping phones illegally. It was not known whom she was giving all this information. Now, she (as DGP) has got official authority to tap phones and opposition leaders should remain extra cautious,'' he said.

The former state minister said he expects Shukla to discharge her duties by remaining within legal framework.

Shukla was embroiled in a controversy during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government's tenure when she was named as an accused in phone tapping cases. The Bombay High Court in September 2023 quashed two FIRs registered against Shukla in this connection.