Gehlot's ex-OSD blames him for phone tapping during 2020 political crisis

In a development that could land former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot in trouble, his ex-OSD Lokesh Sharma has held him responsible for phone tapping during the political crisis in the state in 2020.

He said Gehlot should be interrogated in this regard.

Delhi Police questioned Sharma on Wednesday in connection with the phone-tapping case lodged on a complaint by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

After the questioning, Sharma said he submitted a seven-page written statement, describing the sequence of events on July 16, 2020, when he got a pen drive containing call recordings from the then CM for circulating them to the media.

 

He said Gehlot could tell how he got the call recordings and whether the call interceptions were done legally or not.

Sharma's claim this time has marked a shift from his previous stand that he had got three audio clips from social media and forwarded those to media houses.

Sharma was called for questioning at Delhi Police's Crime Branch office at Rohini. He reached the office at around 11 am, officials said.

Sharma, in April this year, had publicly alleged that an audio clip of a purported telephonic conversation between Shekhawat and some Congress leaders on "toppling" the then Congress government in Rajasthan in 2020 was given to him by the former chief minister himself.

Today, he mentioned the facts in the written statement.

"I have stated that the then chief minister had called me at the chief minister's residence and gave me a pen drive. He directed me to circulate the content of the pen drive to newspapers.

"I went (my) home, transferred the files from the pen drive to my laptop and from laptop to my phone, then circulated them to media houses as directed," he told PTI.

He said the crime branch should now summon Ashok Gehlot for questioning to know the rest of the details.

"The next course of investigation should involve Ashok Gehlot," he said

Sharma said that he was not involved in the call interceptions. It was done on the directions of the then chief minister. Now he can disclose further details, whether how the interception was done, whether it was legal or illegal," he said.

Sharma claimed that phones of several Congress MLAs, from both camps of Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot, were intercepted on directions by the chief minister during the political crisis and he used to get transcription of each call.

He said the then chief secretary, DGP, home secretary and principal secretary to the chief minister were all aware of the developments related to phone tapping.

The phone-tapping controversy erupted in July 2020 during a political crisis when the Congress was in power in Rajasthan.

The crisis was the result of rebellion by the then deputy CM Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress leaders against the leadership of Gehlot.

During the crisis, clips of alleged telephonic conversations between Shekhawat and Congress leaders surfaced, following which Gehlot had alleged that Shekhawat was behind the attempt of toppling his government.

Sharma had circulated the clips purportedly containing conversations about "toppling" the Congress government.

In March 2021, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations on a complaint by Shekhawat.

This is Sharma's sixth appearance before the Crime Branch for questioning. He was last quizzed by the Crime Branch sleuths on October 10, 2023.