Shimla: Himachal Pradesh High Court on Friday refused to grant interim relief to senior IPS officer ID Bhandari in a phone tapping case.
A division bench consisting of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice DC Chaudhary refused to grant stay on a show cause notice issued to Bhandari by the state and he was asked to file a reply to the state government.
Bhandari, a 1982 batch officer of Indian Police Service cadre was shifted from the post of DGP in the wake of phone-tapping controversy and is currently posted as Director General of Home Guards and Fire Services.
He was heading the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) when the phone tapping allegedly took place during the previous BJP government led by PK Dhumal.
A FIR for tapping of over 1,300 telephones was registered on June 26, 2013. But so far no one has been named in the FIR.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had recently said that the inquiry into the phone tapping case was nearing completion and the charge sheet will be filed soon in the court.
Earlier, the vigilance bureau sent a questionnaire to then Director General of Police DS Manhas.
The total number of phones tapped, mainly of Congress leaders, government functionaries and journalists in violation of the Indian Telegraph Act, was over 1,300, said officials.
Of these, the Home Department had granted permission to tap only 170 phones, they said.
Virbhadra Singh also accused the previous BJP government of tapping his phones and bugging his room and intruding into privacy of individuals.
