Who is Rashmi Shukla, Maharashtra police chief transferred ahead of Assembly polls?

Days before the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) has ordered the transfer of the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Shukla. This comes after complaints by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), led by the Congress, accusing her of “clear bias” against the opposition parties.

Shukla has been asked to hand over the charge to the next seniormost IPS officer in the cadre with immediate effect. The EC has 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 Maharashtra DGP.

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

Who is Rashmi Shukla?

Shukla, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was the first woman to serve as Maharashtra’s police chief.
Believed to be Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ favourite, she has previously worked as the commissioner of the State Intelligence Department (SID).

After the MVA came to power in 2019, several officers, including Shukla, seen as close to the former Fadnavis government were sidelined, as per an Indian Express report. Shukla was transferred from the SID to Civil Defence during Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as Maharashtra CM.

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Around this time, she was on central deputation, serving as Additional Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and then the chief of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

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

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

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

One was filed in Pune and another in Mumbai in February and March 2022. A third case was filed against her in which she was not named as an accused, as per the newspaper.

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

Subsequently, the third case was shut after the court approved the CBI’s closure report. This paved the way for her return to Maharashtra.

As per Indian Express, Shukla was coveting the post of the Mumbai commissioner, but the Shinde-led Mahayuti government appointed her as the state police chief.

Shukla finally assumed the role of Maharashtra DGP in January this year. The opposition objected to her appointment, asking CM Shinde to cancel it. NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) spokesperson Vidya Chavan stated that Shukla’s appointment flouted the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) norms.

“IPS officers who have over six months of service left are considered for the DGP’s post. However, Shukla will retire in five months and her appointment is bad by law,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

According to Hindustan Times (HT), the state government wanted to appoint her as the DGP last September but it got delayed due to UPSC raising questions.

Earlier in February, she was granted a two-year term until January 2026 as the Maharashtra DGP. Shukla, who was to retire in June this year, would have retired on January 3, 2026.
Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) told HT that the party leadership was happy with Shuka for containing the Maratha reservation stir led by activist Manoj Jarange-Patil .

EC orders transfer of Rashmi Shukla

The EC’s decision to shift Shukla out of her role as the Maharashtra DGP comes after Congress’ Nana Patole wrote to the poll body on October 31 demanding her removal. He also accused the senior IPS officer of exhibiting “bias” against the MVA partners citing the phone tapping allegations against her.

“While the DGP of Jharkhand was removed immediately after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was enforced, DGP Maharashtra was exempted. Over the past 20 days, political violence against opposition parties has significantly escalated, with a notable deterioration in the law and order situation. She has shown a clear bias against the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP(SP), as evidenced by her previous record of illegal phone tapping of opposition leaders while serving as Commissioner of Police, Pune, and Commissioner of the State Intelligence Department (SID)," he wrote in the letter.

Patole claimed the state government “illegally granted” Shukla a term extension violating the Maharashtra Police Act. He further alleged that she had directed several police officers to register false cases against opposition leaders.

“She has reportedly instructed various CPs and SPs to file false cases against opposition leaders. The Commission appears to be overlooking these actions and her dereliction of duty,” the Maharashtra Congress chief alleged.

Speaking about the snooping allegations against Shukla, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said earlier, “Can we expect her to conduct fair elections? We have said that the reins of elections should not be given to her, and then the Election Commission said that they do not have the right (to transfer). How can this happen? At the same time, Jharkhand’s DGP was changed. Maharashtra’s election is being conducted based on police pressure.”

On Monday, reports came that the EC has directed Shukla’s transfer.

#BreakingNews | Election Commission of India orders transfer of Rashmi Shukla, the DGP of Maharashtra@kotakyesha with more inputs @poonam_burde | #MaharashtraElection2024 #dgp #ElectionCommissionOfIndia 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 to ensure they are perceived as non-partisan in conducting their duties.

Maharashtra will go to polls on November 20, with the counting of votes on November 23.

With inputs from agencies