The Election Commission (EC) has ordered the transfer of Maharashtra’s Director General of Police (DGP), Rashmi Shukla, ahead of the state Assembly elections on November 20. The order follows complaints from the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) and directs Shukla to hand over charge to the next seniormost IPS officer immediately. The EC also asked the state chief secretary to propose three senior IPS officers for the DGP post by 1 pm on Tuesday.
Shukla, a 1988-batch IPS officer, has had a tumultuous tenure marked by political shifts. Known for her close ties to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, she served as the Commissioner of the State Intelligence Department (SID), a key post often held by officers with political backing. After the 2019 change in government, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) reshuffled the police force and sidelined several officers associated with the previous Fadnavis-led administration, including Shukla. She was shifted from SID to Civil Defence, seen as a less influential role.
Shukla’s career took another turn when she was posted on central deputation, first as Additional Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and then as the head of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). However, her return to Maharashtra was marred by legal troubles. In February and March 2022, FIRs were filed against her in Pune and Mumbai for allegedly tapping the phones of opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, NCP’s Eknath Khadse, and Congress’s state chief Nana Patole, during Fadnavis’s tenure.
Patole wrote to the EC on October 31, accusing the state government of illegally granting Shukla an extension of her tenure beyond her retirement date of June 30, violating the Maharashtra Police Act.
