Amid allegations of “bias” against the Opposition she was facing, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday ordered the removal of controversial IPS officer Rashmi Shukla from her position as the Maharashtra Director General Police ahead of the State Assembly polls scheduled for November 20.   

More than five weeks after the Opposition Congress rooted for Rashmi Shukla’s removal from the DGP’s post to ensure a “free, fair and transparent” State Assembly polls,  the ECI asked State Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik to hand over Shukla's charge to the next senior-most IPS officer with immediate effect.

The ECI also asked the chief secretary to send a panel of three IPS officers by Tuesday afternoon for appointment as DGP.

Shukla is a 1988-batch IPS officer. There are three contenders who can replace Rashmi Shukla, a 1989-batch IPS officer Vivek Phansalkar, who is now the Mumbai Police Commissioner and is due for retirement in April 2025. 

The other senior officers include National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief Sadanand Date, a 1990-batch officer who retires in December 2026. He is followed by his batchmate Bipin Kumar Singh, who retires in October next year, and Sanjay Kumar Verma, who retires in April 2028.

Welcoming the decision, the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) said the ECI’s decision to shunt Rashmi Shukla as the DGP was better late than never.

On September 24, 2024, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole had – in a letter to the ECI -- flagged the issue of  the continuance of Rashmi Shukla,  and said: “Rashmi Shukla was due to retire on June 30 2024, upon reaching the age of superannuation.... However, she has been illegally granted an extension until January 2026, in a direct violation of the Maharashtra Police Act, which stipulates that the DGP of the state shall have a term of two years or until their retirement, whichever is earlier”.

Patole had among other things stated: “Given the instances of her alleged political bias, misuse of government machinery, and illegal activities, it is impossible to ensure a fair and impartial environment for the upcoming elections in Maharashtra while Rashmi Shukla continues to hold power over the state police....Her removal is crucial to safeguard the democratic process and ensure that the forthcoming elections are conducted in a fair, free, and transparent manner”.

Patole had written two letters to the ECI on September 24 2024 and 4 October 4 2024 on this issue.

It may be recalled that Rashmi Shukha had come under rough weather during the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVS) government over the alleged tapping of Opposition leaders’ phones during the Devendra Fadnavis-led government between 2014 and 2019.

Two FIRs had been registered against Shukha for allegedly tapping the Opposition leaders. In the first FIR in Mumbai, Shukla had been accused of illegally tapping phones of Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Uddhav Thackeray, Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party leader Eknath Khadse, while she faced the charge of Congress leader Nana Patole’s telephone in the second FIR registered in Pune.

However, a HC division bench of justice AS Gadkari and justice Sharmila Deshmukh quashed the two FIRs, a HC division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Sharmila Deshmukh quashed the two FIRs September 9,2023, after the Prosecution counsel Mahesh Jethmalani told the high court  that  in the Pune FIR, the police had submitted a C-Summary report (case is neither false nor true) seeking to close it and in the Mumbai case, the state government refused to grant sanction to prosecute Shukla.