In a significant development just before her retirement, former Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Shukla has submitted a report recommending criminal action against her predecessor, ex-DGP and former Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey. The report, submitted on January 3, alleges a conspiracy to falsely implicate key political figures during the previous state government's tenure.
The Core Allegations and SIT Probe
The controversy centers on accusations of a plot to arrest then Opposition Leader Devendra Fadnavis and Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde during the rule of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the matter after it was raised in the assembly by MLC Pravin Darekar. Following the SIT's investigation, Rashmi Shukla was tasked with providing her legal opinion on its findings.
The SIT investigated allegations of a criminal conspiracy to frame Fadnavis and Shinde in a scam related to Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) certificates. The scam involved builders who allegedly submitted fraudulent ULC certificates to avoid surrendering 5% of their excess land to the government. During the MVA's term, Thane police investigated businessman Sanjay Punamia, who was in a dispute with his partner Shyamsundar Agarwal, in connection with this scam. Punamia later claimed he was pressured to give a statement against Fadnavis and Shinde.
Shukla's Recommendations and Specific Charges
In her report, Rashmi Shukla has advised the state home department to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Sanjay Pandey and two other police officers—Laxmikant Patil and Sardar Patil. The recommended charges are severe, including criminal conspiracy, a public servant disobeying the law, fabricating false evidence, and threatening a person to give a false statement.
The alleged conspiracy aimed to implicate the two politicians in an older case registered in Thane back in 2016. The report highlights suspicious behavior by then DCP (Crime) Laxmikant Patil. It notes that he used a government vehicle to visit high-profile locations like Mantralaya, Vidhan Bhavan, the DGP's office, and the Sahyadri guest house in Mumbai. However, on his instructions, the drivers logged only "Mumbai" in the vehicle's log book instead of the precise destinations, raising questions about his movements and intent.
Pressure on Witnesses and Accused
A key finding in Shukla's report involves the alleged coercion of businessman Sanjay Punamia. It states that while Punamia was in police custody for a 2021 Thane case, Laxmikant Patil interrogated him regarding the ULC scam. Punamia alleged that Patil pressured him to give a false statement claiming that Devendra Fadnavis had extorted money from builders involved in the ULC scam case. This act of pressuring an accused to falsely implicate a senior political leader forms a crucial part of the recommended charges.
When approached for comment on these serious allegations, Sanjay Pandey declined to respond. The report, submitted in the final days of Shukla's service, now places the ball in the court of the current state government, which must decide whether to act on these recommendations and initiate formal legal proceedings against the named senior police officials.
