Rajasthan former chief minister Ashok Gehlot's ex-OSD Lokesh Sharma has turned approver in a phone tapping case that happened during the political crisis in the state in 2020.
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 from Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and he was questioned multiple times in connection with the case.
Sharma last week moved an application in the court of chief judicial magistrate, Patiala house courts complex in Delhi, which was accepted by the court on Monday.
After the development, Sharma said he was worried for his and his family's safety and he has been frequently getting threats.
His advocate Rohan Vadhwa said, "After a confessional statement recorded before the magistrate and no objection by the crime branch, Sharma was given a pardon and now he has turned approver."
He said no names were given in the application as accused because the matter is being investigated by the crime branch.
Vadhwa said Sharma was given a pardon after the court came to the conclusion from his statement that there were other individuals involved in the conspiracy.
"In order to bring those individuals under the purview of the criminal justice system, the court was of the view that it is essential to give pardon to Lokesh Sharma so that valuable evidence can be obtained," he told PTI over phone.
He said that after completing the investigation, the investigating agency will file a chargesheet and Sharma will be treated as a witness during the trial.
Sharma has been accusing Gehlot of being involved in tapping of phones and gave evidence to the crime branch to support his claim in the past.
He had also submitted a seven-page written statement, describing the sequence of events on July 16, 2020, when he allegedly got a pen drive containing call recordings from the then CM Gehlot for circulation in the media.
When contacted, Sharma said that ever since he made the disclosure, he has been getting threats. "I am worried about me and my family's safety."
Sharma had in April this year publicly alleged that an audio clip of a purported telephonic conversation between Union minister Shekhawat and some Congress leaders on "toppling" the Congress government in Rajasthan in 2020 was given to him by the former chief minister himself.
"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 pendrive to newspapers.
"I went home, transferred the files from pen drive to my laptop and from laptop to my phone, then circulated them to the media houses as directed," he said.
Sharma claimed that phones of several Congress MLAs, from the camps of Ashok Gehlot and his then deputy Sachin Pilot, were intercepted on directions by Gehlot during the political crisis and he (Gehlot) used to get transcription of each call.
He said that the then chief secretary, DGP, home secretary, and principal secretary to CM were all aware of phones being tapped.
The 2020 political crisis in the state was a result of a rebellion by Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress leaders against the Gehlot leadership.
During the crisis, clips of alleged telephonic conversations between Shekhawat and Congress leaders surfaced following which Gehlot had claimed that Shekhawat was behind a coup attempt.
