Days before the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) ordered the transfer of the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Shukla. This follows complaints from the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which accused it of “blatant bias” against opposition parties.

Shukla was asked to hand over the charge to the next most senior IPS officer in the cadre with immediate effect. The EC also directed the chief secretary to send a panel of three IPS officers by 1 pm on Tuesday, November 5, to be shortlisted as the next DGP of Maharashtra.

Who is Rashmi Shukla and why was she transferred? We will explain.

Who is Rashmi Shukla?

Shukla, who became an IPS officer in 1988, was the first woman to serve as the police chief of Maharashtra.
Believed to be Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ favourite, Fadnavis had previously worked as commissioner of the State Intelligence Department (SID).

Later
MVA When he came to power in 2019, several army officers were dismissed, including Shukla, who was seen as close to the former Fadnavis government. Indian Express report. Shukla was transferred from SID to Civil Defense during Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as Maharashtra CM.

Around this time, he served as Central Deputy Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and subsequently as chief of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

Smt. Rashmi Shukla, IPS (MH:88), takes over the charge of Director General Sashastra Seema Bal. Ş. Anish Dayal Singh, IPS, General Manager @ITBP_official He passed the customary baton to Smt. Rashmi Shukla at FHQ #SSB New Delhi on 03.03.2023. @PMOIndia@HMOIndia@PIB_India@MOMENT pic.twitter.com/NGi4gXnVSE

— Sashastra Seema Bal (@SSB_INDIA) March 3, 2023

After Shukla left Maharashtra, two FIRs were filed accusing him of tapping the phones of several opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse. Fadnavis’ tenure as CM reported Indian Express.

One of them opened in Pune in February and March 2022 and the other in Mumbai. A third lawsuit was filed that did not name him as a defendant, according to the newspaper.

The third case against Shukla was taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after Eknath Shinde ousted the Thackeray government and became the CM of Maharashtra in June 2022. Last September, the Bombay High Court had dismissed two of the three FIRs filed against him.

Later, the third case was closed after the court approved the CBI’s closure report. This paved the way for his return to Maharashtra.

according to Indian ExpressShukla coveted the post of Mumbai commissioner, but the Shinde-led Mahayuti government appointed him as the state police chief.

Shukla finally got his role
maharashtra DGP in January this year. The opposition objected to his appointment and asked CM Shinde to cancel the appointment. NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) spokesperson Vidya Chavan stated that Shukla’s appointment was against Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) norms.

“IPS officers with more than six months of service left are being considered for the post of DGP. “However, Shukla will retire after five months and his appointment is legally invalid,” he said.

Accordingly Hindustan Times (HT)The state government wanted to appoint him as DGP last September, but the appointment was postponed due to increasing questions from UPSC.

Earlier in February, he was given a two-year term as Maharashtra DGP till January 2026. Shukla, who will retire in June this year, would retire on January 3, 2026.
Sources from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said: H.T. party leadership is happy with Shuka
Maratha reservation excitement led by activist Manoj Jarange-Patil.

EC orders Rashmi Shukla’s transfer

The EC’s decision to remove Shukla from the post of Maharashtra DGP came after Congress’s Nana Patole wrote to the poll panel on October 31 demanding his removal. He also accused the senior IPS officer of being “biased” against MVA partners, citing phone tapping allegations against him.

“While the DGP of Jharkhand was abolished soon after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force, the DGP of Maharashtra was exempted. Political violence against opposition parties has increased significantly in the past 20 days and there has been a visible deterioration in the law and order situation. He has displayed clear bias against the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), as evidenced by his previous record of illegal phone tapping of opposition leaders while serving as Commissioner of Police and Commissioner of State Intelligence in Pune. Department (SID),” he wrote in his letter.

Patole alleged that the state government “illegally granted extension” to Shukla in violation of the Maharashtra Police Act. He also alleged that he had instructed several police officers to register fake cases against opposition leaders.

“He reportedly instructed various CPs and SPs to file fake cases against opposition leaders. The Maharashtra Congress chief alleged that the Commission appears to be ignoring these actions and his dereliction of duty.

Speaking about the surveillance allegations against Shukla, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had earlier said: “Can we expect him to conduct fair elections? We said he should not be given the reins of elections, then the Election Commission said they have no right (to transfer). How is this?” Could it be? At the same time, Jharkhand’s DGP was also replaced, Maharashtra’s election is being held based on police pressure.”

On Monday, there were reports that EC had directed Shukla’s transfer.

#Breaking News | Election Commission of India orders transfer of Maharashtra DGP Rashmi Shukla@kotakyesha with more input @poonam_burde | #Maharashtra Election2024 #dgp #Election Commission of India pic.twitter.com/iCSF5FdaMP

— News18 (@CNNnews18) November 4, 2024

While announcing the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had told officials to be impartial and fair and ensure that they are perceived as non-partisan while discharging their duties.

Maharashtra will go to polls on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23.

With input from agencies