‘SHUKLA NOT NAMED IN FIR ON LEAK OF PAPERS ON COP POSTINGS’

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Police, in an affidavit filed in the Bombay high court (HC), has informed that former commissioner of intelligence Rashmi Shukla has not been named in the first information report (FIR) related to data theft and leakage of confidential documents on transfers and postings of police officers in the state and hence, her petition seeking the quashing of FIR should be dismissed.

The affidavit filed in response to Shukla’s petition stated: “The FIR is registered against unknown person and therefore, as the petitioner (Shukla) is not an accused in it, the petitioner has no locus to file the petition seeking its quashing.”

During an earlier hearing of Shukla’s petition, senior advocate Darius Khambata – who represented the Mumbai Police – made similar submissions, but had sought time to file a written reply to the petition. Khambata had argued that the data theft and the leaked documents were admittedly confidential and such documents coming into public domain was a serious offence, which had to be probed.

Referring to the FIR, the affidavit stated that the complaint was limited to sensitive and confidential information being leaked in an unauthorised manner to third parties from the state intelligence department (SID) and did not have any bearing on the documents’ content.

The affidavit stated the FIR was filed against unknown persons, and Shukla was issued notice only to provide information in the investigation of the offences in the FIR and it did not mean that she was implicated in the case. Hence, her petition was not maintainable and should be dismissed, it stated.