Phone-tapping: Jaipur court asks CM Gehlot, others to appear before it on Mar 16
The Additional Sessions Court here issued notices to Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, PHED Minister Mahesh Joshi and others, asking them to appear before it on March 16 in the matter of an alleged phone tapping. The court also issued notices to former chief secretary Rajeeva Swarup, former additional chief decretary Rohit Kumar Singh, former DGP Bhupendra Singh, Special Operations Group (SOG) ADG Ashok Rathore, SOG police station SHO Ravindra Kumar Bhuria and the chief minister's OSD Lokesh Sharma.
Notices have been issued on a revision petition filed by Advocate O P Solanki. The next hearing in the matter is on March 16.
Solanki had filed the petition in the lower court over the phone-tapping allegations during the power tussle within the ruling Congress in 2020. A case had also been filed in the Delhi crime branch in the alleged phone-tapping.
The case was filed on the complaint of Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. CM's OSD Lokesh Sharma had also appeared before the crime branch for questioning. The phone-tapping controversy erupted in July 2020 in Rajasthan. Audio clips of alleged telephonic conversations between Gajendra Singh and Congress leaders surfaced amidst a rebellion against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot by his the then deputy Sachin Pilot and 18 party MLAs supporting him.
It was alleged that Lokesh Sharma circulated the audio clips purportedly having the conversation about a conspiracy to topple the Congress government. On the basis of the audio clips, Congress leader Mahesh Joshi had lodged complaints with the SOG and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Rajasthan Police but the FIR did not mention that Gajendra Singh referred to in a clip was Union minister Shekhawat. The SOG later closed the case after the Congress high command intervened to resolve the issues between Gehlot and Pilot. Sharma has rejected the allegations of phone tapping.
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