News Analysis India

Tag: Anil Deshmukh

  • Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh discharged from JJ hospital

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who was admitted to the orthopaedic ward of state-run JJ Hospital here, was discharged on Tuesday, hospital sources said.

    Deshmukh (71), who is in CBI custody in a corruption case, was shifted to the hospital from Arthur Road Jail on Saturday after he complained of shoulder pain, they said.

    “He was discharged in the afternoon. But he could leave the hospital only in the evening after all related procedures were completed,” the sources said.

    The former minister and NCP leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November last year in connection with a money laundering case.

    Last week, a Mumbai court allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take his custody in a separate corruption case.

    Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh had alleged that Deshmukh, then home minister, had given a target to police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from restaurants and bars in the city.

    Deshmukh denied the allegations, but resigned from the state cabinet in April last year after the Bombay High Court directed the CBI to register a case against him.

  • Chandiwal panel: Former minister Anil Deshmukh denies allegations of extortion from bar owner

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh on Monday deposed before the Chandiwal Commission and denied allegations that extortion money was demanded from a bar owner.

    He was being cross examined by dismissed cop Sachin Waze’s advocate Yogesh Naidu.

    During the recording of evidence, Naidu pointed to a WhatsApp message received by Waze from one Ankit Anand, who owned a bar named True Tramm Trunk (TTT).

    It is Waze’s allegation that Anand was a close friend of Deshmukh’s son Salil Deshmukh.

    The Whatsapp message read “I am ready with the collection as told by Salil about hukka parlour, pubs and orchestra bars. Pls let me know when to meet you. Ankit anand, friend of Salil Deshmukh (HM son)”.

    Naidu asked Deshmukh if he knew Anand, to which the NCP leader replied in the negative and also denied the extortion allegation.

    It is Waze’s allegation that TTT was one of the 1,750 bars from where Deshmukh had asked him to extort money.

    After Naidu completed his cross-examination, Deshmukh before rising from his seat in the witness box told the commission he wanted to speak about “param satya”.

    “Why did Param Bir Singh (former commissioner of police) write that letter (leveling corruption allegations against Deshmukh). I want to state that the ‘param satya’ should come out,” Deshmukh said.

    Justice Chandiwal, however, told Deshmukh he will need to take written permission if he wanted to speak.

    He further said the former minister had already stated whatever he wished to say in his affidavit.

    Waze’s application seeking to summon Mumbai Joint Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe as a witness was also rejected, though Justice Chandiwal gave a day’s time to Waze to take legal opinion on whether he wanted the challenge the order.

    The Maharashtra government, in March last year, formed the one-member commission under Justice KU Chandiwal (retired) to probe Param Bir Singh’s allegations against Deshmukh.

    Singh, who was transferred from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in March in the aftermath of the Antilia bomb scare episode, had claimed Deshmukh had asked police officers to collect Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in the city.

    The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are also probing these allegations against Deshmukh, who is currently in judicial custody in a money laundering case.

  • ED opposes in Bombay HC plea of Anil Deshmukh’s wife Aarti against attachment of assets

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday opposed in the Bombay High Court a plea filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s wife, Aarti, challenging the provisional attachment of assets in a money laundering case.

    The ED, in an affidavit, said the petition was not maintainable as the issues raised in it could be put forward before an adjudicating authority which is seized of the matter pertaining to the attachment of assets under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    The affidavit further said the Act provides for statutory mechanisms to raise the issue before the adjudicating authority.

    Further, the adjudicating authority has concluded the hearing and closed the matter for order, said the ED.

    A division bench headed by Justice G S Patel on Monday took the affidavit on record and posted the matter for further hearing on January 19.

    In December 2021, the bench had permitted the adjudicating authority to hear and pass final orders on the provisional attachment of assets belong to Anil Deshmukh and his wife Aarti, but restrained it from taking any coercive action pending hearing of her plea in the HC.

    Aarti Deshmukh, in the petition, had contended that the authority is supposed to include a chairperson and two members, one of whom has to be compulsorily from law background, but this rule is not being followed.

    The authority is a quasi-judicial body established under the PMLA that adjudicates on matters connected with attachment of properties.

    Anil Deshmukh, a senior NCP leader, is currently in jail under judicial custody in the case.

    Earlier last year, the ED had provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 4 crore belonging to Anil Deshmukh (71) and his family.

    The ED had initiated a probe after the Central Bureau of Investigation filed an FIR against Anil Deshmukh following a preliminary inquiry into the allegations of corruption and official misconduct levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    The NCP leader, who resigned from the state cabinet in April 2021, has denied any wrongdoing.

  • Maharashtra in 2021: Courts stepped in during COVID second wave; Aryan Khan, Anil Deshmukh in limelight

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: As the devastating second wave of COVID-19 hit Maharashtra early this year, the Bombay High Court stepped in to provide relief to harried citizens with a slew of judgements related to oxygen supply, medical aid, hospital beds and vaccinations, while in 2021, the legal landscape was also dominated by cases related to star kid Aryan Khan, politician Anil Deshmukh, police officers Param Bir Singh and Sachin Waze.

    The HC found itself flooded with public interest litigations (PILs) and pleas filed by citizens in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic, and the high court immediately stepped in to set in motion a system adept at tackling the health crisis.

    The high court at all its benches in the state – Mumbai, Nagpur and Aurangabad – passed several directions this year on oxygen supply, stocking up and providing anti-COVID-19 vaccines, timely medical aid, hospital beds and directions to decongest public spaces and prisons.

    The Bombay HC provided proactive judicial relief through its timely orders on streamlining the vaccination process for citizens, prioritising it for the elderly, and vulnerable sections, including the mentally ill and destitute.

    The HC directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to begin door-to -door vaccination against COVID-19 for the elderly and the physically unequipped in the metropolis despite resistance from the Union government in granting a go ahead to the state authorities for the initiative.

    The high court functioned through the summer vacations to preside over all COVID-19-related matters.

    In December, Chief Justice Dipankar Datta said Maharashtra was one of the pioneers in successfully tackling the COVID-19 crisis.

    “Let us not forget about the dark days. We must not let our guards down. We hope the New Year brings in a new beginning and we never see a repeat of April 2021,” CJ Datta had said while referring to the second wave of the pandemic.

    Apart from coronavirus-related matters, the courts across Maharashtra also witnessed several high-profile cases like the arrest of superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in a drug related offence, arrest of former home minister Anil Deshmukh, criminal cases related to suspended IPS officer Param Bir Singh and arrest of former cop Sachin Waze in the Antilia bomb scare case.

    Businessman Raj Kundra, husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, spent two months in jail after his arrest in a case related to alleged creation and distribution of pornographic films through apps.

    A high court judge, Justice Pushpa Ganediwala, was criticised over a series of judgments that were deemed controversial for their interpretation of what constitutes a sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).

    Justice Ganediwala came under the scanner for her judgments that ruled that there has to be ‘skin-to-skin contact with sexual intent’ for an act to be considered as an offence of sexual assault under the POCSO Act, and that “holding hands of a minor girl and opening of zip of his pants’ does not fall under the definition of ‘sexual assault’ in the special legislation enacted in 2012.”

    Taking a dim view of these rulings, the Supreme Court Collegium later decided not to recommend Justice Ganediwala’s name as a permanent judge which means she would be demoted back to district judiciary at the end of her additional judgeship in February 2022.

    Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s 23-year-old son Aryan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October 3 in the drugs-on-cruise case.

    Aryan Khan, who was accused of illicit drug trafficking, consumption, possession and sale/purchase of drugs, was released on bail by the HC on October 28.

    Justice N W Sambre, while granting bail to Aryan Khan, observed there was no positive evidence to show that the star kid conspired to commit drug-related offences.

    The high court refused to accept the NCB’s argument that there were WhatsApp chats to prove its case.

    The drugs-on-cruise case opened a can of worms with NCB Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede, who was supervising some high-profile drugs-related matters, coming under the lens over allegations of extortion attempt and corruption.

    Maharashtra cabinet minister Nawab Malik levelled serious allegations against Wankhede, whose father later filed a defamation suit against the politician in the HC.

    Actor Kangana Ranaut faced several legal complaints this year.

    Apart from a defamation suit filed by lyricist Javed Akhthar, Ranaut also faced complaints for her social media posts against Sikhs.

    In September, Ranaut appeared before a Mumbai court in connection with the defamation suit filed against her by Akhtar.

    Ranaut claimed she had lost faith in the court as it had indirectly threatened to issue a warrant against her.

    Two other significant matters that dominated the HC proceedings throughout 2021 were the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, and the investigation and litigation that followed in the aftermath of allegations of misconduct and corruption made against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh by ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    The Elgar Parishad case forced the HC to examine a citizen’s fundamental rights to life and liberty guaranteed by Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

    As the lower courts denied bail and other reliefs, including medical aid, a pair of spectacles and a straw sipper to some of the activists and academics arrested in the Elgar Parishad case, the accused moved the HC seeking protection of their rights.

    The high court granted temporary medical bail to ailing poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad case, in February on humanitarian grounds.

    A bench led by Justice SS Shinde said if the HC did not grant Rao such bail, it would be “abdicating its duty to protect the principles of human rights.”

    Another accused in the case, Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist Stan Swamy, however, could not get medical bail from the HC.

    He was permitted by the court to be admitted to a private hospital where he died in July.

    In December, the HC granted bail to another accused Sudha Bharadwaj.

    On April 5, a bench led by CJ Datta directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI to conduct a Preliminary Enquiry into the allegations of corruption levelled against Deshmukh.

    Besides the CBI FIR, Deshmukh also faced a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case of money laundering.

    This led to a barrage of petitions by the Maharashtra government, Deshmukh, Singh, highlighting the centre-state tussle on the issue, and all seeking reliefs ranging from independent probes, expunging some portions of the CBI’s FIR, protection from arrest, among other things.

    On December 16, the HC dismissed a plea filed by the Maharashtra government alleging bias by the CBI.

    Deshmukh, booked under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was arrested by the ED in November.

    The NIA filed a chargesheet in a special court against ten persons, including dismissed cop Sachin Waze, in the case related to Antilia bomb scare and killing of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran.

    Param Bir Singh is facing as many as five extortion cases in Mumbai and Thane.

    The courts concerned issued non-bailable warrants against him for failing to appear before them.

    A court in Mumbai had declared him a proclaimed offender as he was not traceable.

    However, Singh, who had not reported to work since May after his transfer from the post of Mumbai police commissioner appeared before the courts towards the end of November.

    He got the warrants and the proclamation order cancelled.

    The Supreme Court has granted Singh protection from arrest.

    Union Minister Narayan Rane was arrested by the Maharashtra police and faced multiple complaints over his controversial remarks against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

    In November, the HC commuted to life term the death penalty awarded to three convicts in the 2013 Shakti Mills gangrape case in Mumbai.

    The court had then noted that although the offence was “barbaric and heinous”, it cannot be said at the threshold that the convicts deserve only death penalty and nothing less than that.

    “A sentence of death is irrevocable and therefore, the basic principle in sentencing policy would be life imprisonment is the Rule and Death Penalty is an Exception,” the court observed.

  • Anil Deshmukh’s arrest, MSRTC strike, OBC quota, NCB may rock Maharashtra winter session

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The winter session of the Maharashtra legislature to be held between December 22 and 28, is likely to generate much heat as the opposition BJP may corner the Shiv Sena-led state government over a host of issues, including the OBC reservation stalemate, the ongoing strike of MSRTC workers, the arrest of former minister Anil Deshmukh, among others.

    The Maratha quota issue, the COVID-19 management in view of the emergence of the Omicron variant, issues surrounding the arrest of Aryan Khan, son of Shah Rukh Khan, in a drugs case, and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal officer Sameer Wankhede’s caste credentials, are also likely to rock both the Houses of the legislature.

    The winter session in Maharashtra is generally held in Nagpur, the second capital of the state, but it is being held in Mumbai for the second time in a row due to the pandemic.

    Former home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh, who had resigned from the cabinet in April following charges of corruption, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November in a money-laundering case.

    The case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the CBI booked him in a corruption case related to allegations of at least Rs 100 crore bribery made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who was suspended by the state government earlier this month.

    The arrest of Deshmukh and suspension of Param Bir Singh are two of the issues that the BJP is likely use to attack the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, in which Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress share power, during the winter session this time.

    NCP minister Nawab Malik has been targeting NCB officer Wankhede, who had led the raid on a cruise ship off Mumbai coast in October this year, where it allegedly recovered drugs during a raid on a cruise ship off the Mumbai coast, following which Aryan along was arrested along with others.

    Malik targeted Wankhede, alleging that he was born a Muslim but got his job in the Scheduled Castes quota by obtaining a bogus caste certificate.

    Wankhede denied the allegation and his father filed a defamation suit against Malik.

    This ongoing issue is also likely to figure during the session.

    Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who has resumed official work after a cervical spine surgery, is likely to attend the proceedings and the BJP is set to target him for not being on the field.

    The post of the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has been lying vacant since February this year after Nana Patole resigned in order to take charge as the state Congress chief.

    However, there is no official mention about the election of speaker in the agenda of the session finalised so far.

    The state government has maintained that the election couldn’t be held earlier due to the pandemic.

    As per the tradition, the election of the assembly speaker has always been done unanimously, but this time, the government is concerned that the BJP may ask for an election through ballot.

    Therefore, the government plans to the amend the existing rules to enable that the speaker is elected through a voice vote on the floor of the house.

    Three-time Congress MLA from Bhor in Pune district, Sangram Thopte, is the frontrunner for the coveted post.

    The employees of the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation (MSRTC) have been on a strike since the last nearly two months over their demand of the transport body’s merger with the state government.

    Their protest has posed hardships for the common people.

    Transport minister Anil Parab, who is a close aide of CM Thackeray, is facing severe criticism over the handling of the issue.

    The Supreme Court earlier this year quashed quota for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies after observing that the total number of seats earmarked for various communities, including the SCs sand STs, should not exceed 50 per cent of its total strength.

    This BJP, which has been targeting the MVA over its “failure” to handle the quota issue, is likely to step up its attack during the winter session.

    The Shakti Bill, which has been drafted on the lines of the Disha Act, is also expected to come up for discussion this time.

  • Money laundering case: Court refuses bail to ex-Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh’s aide

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The statement of a former policeman cannot be “thrown out” at the stage of bail merely because he is not a person of “good conduct”, noted a special PMLA court here in its order refusing bail to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s personal assistant Kundan Shinde.

    Special PMLA Judge MG Deshpande had rejected Shinde’s bail plea on December 7, and the detailed order was made available on Friday.

    Shinde was arrested on June 26 by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged role in a money laundering case in which the accused include Deshmukh and dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Waze. Waze, in his statement to the ED, said that Deshmukh introduced him to Shinde during a meeting at the then home minister’s official residence.

    Waze also disclosed the manner in which he collected Rs 4.7 crore between December last year and February, 2021 at the behest of Deshmukh, adding that the collected amount was handed over to Shinde on multiple occasions.

    The court said it is clear from the statement of Waze the said money, approximately Rs 4.7 crore, which he handed over to Shinde was illegal collection from various bar owners across Mumbai, and was nothing but proceeds of crime as defined under the provisions of PMLA Act.

    However, Shinde’s lawyer Ejaz Khan argued there was nothing against his client except statements and words of Waze, and that the dismissed policeman’s statements cannot be believed as they are made with an “actuated malice” and without absolutely any corroboration. “This fact cannot be ignored at the stage of bail and the statement of Waze cannot be thrown out merely because he is not a person of good conduct as argued by Ejaz Khan, ” the court said.

    Conspiracy is always hatched in secrecy and direct evidence thereof, even during the course of trial, cannot be obtained, and inferences have to be drawn for the same, the judge said.

    “Even if the argument of the advocate that Waze created, fabricated, imaginary false story and implicated the applicant is considered, yet a question remains how any person, including Waze, can build up or fabricate the story with such minute details regarding dates of meetings, dates of collection etc,” the court observed.

    It said that at this juncture, the statements under the provisions of PMLA Act, which have corroboration of the details in respect of money transfers, cannot be disbelieved. The court held there is a strong prima facie case which points out to the involvement of the applicant.

    An offence under PMLA is very serious and bail applications have to be dealt with strictly considering the gravity, magnitude and the message which will be conveyed to law abiding people, the court said. The ED’s case is that Deshmukh, while serving as home minister, misused his official position and collected Rs 4.7 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai through Waze.

    The money was allegedly laundered through the Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha, an education trust controlled by Deshmukh’s family. Deshmukh has refuted the allegations and has claimed the agency’s whole case was based on malicious statements made by Waze.

  • Maharashtra government plea on summons to CS, DGP ‘surrogate’, real actor Anil Deshmukh, CBI tells HC

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that the Maharashtra government’s plea seeking quashing of summons issued by the central agency to state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte and DGP Sanjay Pandey was a surrogate one.

    The “real actor” behind the petition was former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, who is currently being probed by the CBI for alleged corruption and extortion, the agency’s counsel, Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi told the court.

    Lekhi reiterated before a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and SV Kotwal that the Maharashtra government’s petition seeking quashing of summons issued to Kunte and Pandey for questioning related to the Deshmukh probe was an attempt to scuttle and derail the central agency’s investigation.

    Lekhi said the CBI had collected evidence to show that while Deshmukh was the state home minister, several recommendations made by the Maharashtra Police Establishment Board on transfers and postings of state police officers had been overridden.

    “We have collected evidence to show several recommendations of the police establishment board weren’t approved, decisions were changed, and several postings and transfers were made without the involvement of the board,” Lekhi said.

    “This whole episode converges around the role of Deshmukh. Deshmukh has come to court seeking relief and failed. So now, the state has come on his behalf. This is a surrogate petition and the real actor is Anil Deshmukh,” he said.

    The CBI denied the Maharashtra government’s claim that the agency had summoned DGP Pandey merely because he was the senior most police officer of the state and that the same was a harassment tactic.

    Lekhi said Pandey had been summoned for questions related to his interaction with former Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh, who had made the allegations of misconduct and corruption against Deshmukh.

    Pandey was also required by the CBI to “deal with some transcripts” related to the case, Lekhi added.

    Following an order of the HC on April 5, the CBI conducted a preliminary inquiry into the allegations made by IPS officer Singh against Deshmukh, and subsequently registered an FIR against the NCP leader.

    In September this year, the CBI summoned chief secretary Sitaram Kunte and DGP Sanjay Pandey, asking them to report to the central agency in Delhi for answering questions related to Deshmukh.

    The Maharashtra government, however, approached HC challenging the summons.

    HC will hear the plea further on November 24.

  • Anil Deshmukh case: Police force not part of some ‘zamindari system’, CBI tells Bombay High Court​

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Bombay High Court on Monday that a state’s police force was an independent institution, supposed to be free of the executive’s control and not part of some “zamindari system’ as it opposed the Maharashtra government’s move to seek quashing of summons issued to two top bureaucrats in the Anil Deshmukh case.

    The Maharashtra government had no right to approach the court and seek that the summons issued by the central agency to state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte and current DGP Sanjay Pandey, related to its extortion probe against former home minister Anil Deshmukh, be quashed, the CBI told a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and SV Kotwal.

    Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, who appeared for the CBI, told the bench that as per law, the police force was institutionalized and was not part of some “zamindari system” that the Maharashtra government could approach the HC claiming it was doing so on behalf of its entire police establishment since the CBI’s summons to its DGP was demoralising the force.

    Lekhi said the state’s petition was wholly misconceived and an attempt to interfere with the CBI’s probe against Deshmukh.

    The Maharashtra government’s counsel, senior advocate Darius Khambata, had earlier told the bench that the state was justified in approaching the HC in the case since the CBI’s summons to the chief secretary and its senior most police officer was demoralising its entire police force.

    Khambata had said that the state had approached the HC by invoking its “parens patriae jurisdiction”- a provision of law that allows the next of kin, a legal guardian, or a friend to approach court on behalf of someone who is a minor, disabled, or, not in a position to approach the court.

    Lekhi, however, said, “The question of parens patriae doesn’t arise. We are dealing with delinquency in a criminal case and in criminal law, the doctrine of parens patriae cannot be invoked to stall a central agency’s investigation.”

    “This shows the desperation of the state. In which category do the DGP and chief secretary come – minor, insane, disabled?” he asked.

    Lekhi further said in the present case, no fundamental right of the state government was being violated.

    He claimed the state government’s real intent was to interfere in the CBI’s probe into the allegations of extortion made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    “The police force is not a part of some zamindari system. Therefore, the executive can’t lay a claim to be a proprietor of its police force and come to court saying the entire force is being affected carrying the mindset that these are our officers,” Lekhi said.

    Lekhi opposed the state government’s submission that the ongoing probe was compromised since the present CBI director Subodh Jaiswal was the state DGP when Deshmukh was the home minister and had hence been part of several meetings in which transfers and postings of police officials had been discussed.

    The state government had said that since the CBI was probing Deshmukh’s interference in transfers and postings, Jaiswal, who took charge as director of the CBI in May this year, himself should be a potential subject of Investigation.

    Lekhi, however, said, “Jaiswal is a member of the (Police Establishment) board, the board had meetings, so obviously he attended those. The question though is, has what has happened because of his participation in those meetings, or because of the home minister’s conduct?”

    “The involvement of Deshmukh and Deshmukh putting his men out for extortion is under scrutiny,” he said.

    Following an order of the Bombay high court issued on April 5 this year, the CBI conducted a preliminary inquiry into the allegations made by Singh against Deshmukh (71).

    The central agency subsequently registered an FIR against the NCP leader.

    In September this year, the CBI summoned chief secretary Kunte and DGP Pandey, asking them to report to the central agency’s office in Delhi for answering questions related to Deshmukh.

    The Maharashtra government, however, approached HC challenging the summons.

    The HC will hear the plea further on November 23.

  • SC junks Anil Deshmukh’s plea for records of PE report, says should we entertain this as he was minister

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Thursday junked a plea filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh seeking records, including file notings and internal correspondence, of the preliminary enquiry (PE) report in the corruption case, saying “should we entertain this because he has been a minister”.

    A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul dismissed Deshmukh’s plea and said he can argue on this before the competent court and they have the liberty to do so.

    “The petition under 32 is based on the premise that the orders passed by the court on the rationale that the PE may have been material against the petition.

    But as per certain newspaper reports, the petitioner is stated to have been given clean chit in the enquiry.

    “The prayer is to call for all the records to look into the PE. We are not inclined to exercise our jurisdiction under Article 32. In the given scenario it is always open to the petitioner to plead before the competent court,” said the bench also comprising Justice M M Sundresh.

    Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Deshmukh, submitted that the court had earlier said that let the PE be completed as the commissioner of police has made these allegations.

    “Now the commissioner of police is going to be declared an absconder. They said in FIR that a PE report says a cognisable offence is made out. India Today has assessed the report. As per certain reports, the petitioner is given a clean chit.

    The PE on the orders of the Bombay High Court has recorded statements of many key players.

    If this is true then it takes the whole basis of the record.

    Then there is political motivation in this.

    All family members, servants are being called everyday to admit that you are leaking this report,” Sibal submitted.

    The court, however, said, “We don’t know how much credence can be given to all this material. Should we entertain this because he has been a minister. The investigation can carry on. Why should this court entertain this petition under Article 32. Competent courts are already looking into this. We are not inclined.”

    A special PMLA court here on Monday had sent Deshmukh to 14-day judicial custody as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not seek his further remand in connection with a multi-crore money laundering case.

    Deshmukh (71) was arrested by the ED on November 1 after questioning in the case, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    The ED had initiated a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed its FIR against the NCP leader on April 21 this year on charges of corruption and misuse of official position.

    The money laundering case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the CBI booked him in a corruption case related to allegations of at least Rs 100 crore bribery made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    The ED case is that Deshmukh, while serving as the state’s home minister, misused his official position and through dismissed police officer Sachin Waze collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

    Deshmukh has refuted these allegations saying the agency’s whole case was based on malicious statements made by a tainted cop (Waze).

    The agency had also submitted its prosecution complaint (equivalent to a charge sheet) against the duo before a special court.

  • Maharashtra government trying ‘shamelessly’ to frustrate probe against Deshmukh: CBI to Bombay HC

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court the Maharashtra government is trying “shamelessly” to frustrate an ongoing corruption probe against former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and that it does not deserve any relief in the matter.

    The central agency urged the HC to not grant any relief to the Maharashtra government, which is seeking quashing of CBI summons issued to chief secretary Sitaram Kunte and current DGP Sanjay Pandey related to its ongoing probe against Deshmukh.

    Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi, who appeared for the CBI, told a bench led by Justice Nitin Jamdar that the state government failed to initiate a probe into allegations of misconduct and corruption made against Deshmukh earlier this year by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

    Lekhi said the state government was bound by law to initiate a probe. However, it chose not to do so, and instead, approached the HC seeking, amongst other things, that some portions of the CBI’s FIR against Deshmukh be expunged (these related to now dismissed cop Sachin Waze’s reinstatement in 2020 and transfers and postings of officers), he said.

    “An investigation that was the mandate of law did not take place and that’s why the HC had to pass April 5 order,” Lekhi said, referring to a previous order of the high court directing the CBI to initiate a preliminary inquiry into the allegations made against the NCP leader.

    The 71-year-old politician is currently in jail under judicial custody after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. “Because of its incompetence and its conduct, the state of Maharashtra is not deserving of any relief from this court. Maharashtra is persistently and rather shamelessly continuing with its endeavor to frustrate (the ongoing probe) and to ensure investigation doesn’t take place,” he said.

    Lekhi also opposed the argument made by the state government last month, through senior counsel Darius Khambata, that since, the current CBI director Subodh Jaiswal was the Maharashtra Director General of Police when Deshmukh was home minister, he, too, was a potential subject of the ongoing probe.

    Khambata had told the HC last month that between 2019 and 2020, when Jaiswal was the DGP, he was a part of the Police Establishment Board and thus, a party to several of the transfers and postings of state police officers that are now being probed by the CBI.

    The recommendations for the said transfers and postings were approved by Jaiswal, who was the DGP during Deshmukh’s tenure as Maharashtra Home minister, Khambata had said.

    However, on Wednesday, Lekhi pointed out that in August 2020, while Jaiswal was the Maharashtra DGP, he had written to the state government seeking a CID probe into alleged irregularities in the transfers and postings of state police officers.

    “The CBI director, who was then the DGP, wrote to the state of Maharashtra seeking a probe. He did what was appropriate and what was expected of an ethical police officer,” Lekhi said.

    “If he were guilty, why would he write this letter?” he asked. The CBI counsel questioned the Maharashtra government’s locus standi or, its right to approach the court, seeking the present relief.

    Khambata however, said the CBI’s probe was affecting the entire state police force, and therefore, the government had a “parens patriae” (power to protect persons who are unable to act on their own behalf) jurisdiction to approach the HC.

    “The state of Maharashtra has no intention of delaying, or, scuttling the probe. But the CBI is heavily compromised and the citizens of the country deserve a free and fair probe into the case,” Khambata said.

    Following an order of the high court issued on April 5 this year, the CBI conducted a preliminary inquiry into the allegations made by Singh against Deshmukh.

    The central agency subsequently registered an FIR against the former minister who resigned from the cabinet after the HC order.

    In September this year, the CBI summoned chief secretary Kunte and DGP Pandey, asking them to report to its office in Delhi for answering questions related to Deshmukh.

    The Maharashtra government, however, approached the HC challenging the summons issued to the two senior bureaucrats. The HC will hear the plea further on November 22.