Param Bir Singh’s plea for CBI probe against Anil Deshmukh to be heard in SC
The Supreme Court will Wednesday hear the plea by Mumbai’s former Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in search of route for instant “impartial and fair” CBI probe into alleged corrupt malpractices of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. As per Wednesday’s trigger listing uploaded on the apex court docket web site, the petition would come up for listening to earlier than a bench comprising Justices SK Kaul and RS Reddy. Singh, a 1988 batch IPS officer, has additionally sought quashing of the order transferring him from the submit of Mumbai CP alleging it to be “arbitrary” and “illegal”.
As an interim reduction, he has sought a keep of the operation of his switch order and route to state authorities, the Centre and CBI to instantly take in its custody the CCTV footage from the residence of Deshmukh.
“The petitioner has invoked writ jurisdiction of this court to seek unbiased, uninfluenced, impartial and fair investigation in the corrupt malpractices of Anil Deshmukh, the Home Minister of Government of Maharashtra before the evidence are destroyed,” he has mentioned in his plea.
“Deshmukh had been holding meetings in February 2021 at his residence with police officers including Sachin Vaze of Crime Intelligence Unit, Mumbai and Sanjay Patil, ACP Social Service Branch, Mumbai, bypassing their seniors and had instructed them that he had a target to accumulate Rs 100 crore every month and had directed to collect money from various establishments and other sources,” Singh has alleged.
He has claimed it’s reliably learnt that on or about August 24-25, 2020, one Rashmi Shukla, Commissioner Intelligence, State Intelligence Department, had introduced to the discover of the Director-General of Police, who in flip introduced it to the information of the state’s Additional Chief Secretary Home Department, about corrupt malpractices in postings/transfers by Deshmukh primarily based on a telephonic interception.
“She was shunted out rather than taking any firm action against said Anil Deshmukh”, he has mentioned.
Deshmukh had been interfering in numerous investigations and was instructing the cops to conduct the identical in a selected method as desired by him, Singh has alleged.
“Such act of Deshmukh in abuse of the official position of the Home Minister, whether in calling and directly instructing the police officers of lower rank such as Vaze or Patil for his malicious intent of extorting money from establishments across Mumbai and from other sources or whether in interfering in the investigations & directing the same to be conducted in a particular manner, or whether indulging in corrupt malpractices in posting /transfers of officers, cannot be countenanced or justified in any democratic State”, he has claimed.
Singh has mentioned that honest CBI investigation is thus warranted in every of such acts of Deshmukh in the alleged abuse of the official place of the Home Minister and added that he has introduced the corrupt practices in the information of the senior leaders and the Chief Minister of the state instantly.
He mentioned that thereafter, on March 17, by a notification of the Maharashtra authorities he was transferred from the submit of the Police Commissioner of Mumbai to the Home Guard division in an “arbitrary and illegal manner without the completion of the minimum fixed tenure of two years”.
Referring to the February 25 incident outdoors Antilia, the residence of businessman Mukesh Ambani, the place a automobile with explosives was discovered main to a bomb scare, Singh mentioned that he believes that the explanation for the switch famous by the state authorities in its file is to guarantee a free and honest investigation in the case.
He mentioned that the mentioned case is being now investigated by the NIA, and Sachin Vaze, an officer of Crime Intelligence Unit, Mumbai has been arrested for custodial interrogation by NIA.
“All necessary assistance had been rendered by petitioner’s office and his officers for the conduct of a free and fair investigation by the ATS and the NIA into the Antilia incident. It is not even case of NIA that the petitioner had in any manner obstructed in a free and fair investigation by NIA”, he mentioned.
He additional mentioned that having made such startling revelations, he apprehends additional malicious and coercive actions on the occasion of “disgruntled Home Minister in abuse of his powers”.
He mentioned that Deshmukh whereas mechanically denying the contents of the letter dated March 20, submitted to the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, has issued a press launch threatening to provoke defamation proceedings against him.
He has additionally sought instructions to safeguard him from any additional coercive steps apprehended in retaliation for laying naked the alleged corrupt malpractices of Deshmukh.
(With PTI inputs)
