Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had on October 22 informed an inquiry commission headed by Justice KU Chandiwal (retd) that he had no evidence to support the corruption charges leveled against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. There is no other evidence.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) late Monday night arrested Deshmukh in a money laundering and corruption case after questioning him for over 12 hours at his office.
In a letter addressed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray soon after he was removed from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner in March, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had set a target of up to Rs 100 crore for policemen from restaurants and bars.
Based on this letter, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR after the Bombay High Court (HC) asked it to investigate the matter. The ED has to register an FIR against the person concerned to investigate a case. The CBI FIR formed the basis of the ED’s probe in the case which led to Deshmukh’s arrest.
The Maharashtra government had also set up a commission to probe the corruption allegations leveled by Singh.
Singh, through a person who has a power of attorney, submitted an affidavit on October 22 before the Chandiwal Commission, which probed his corruption allegations against Deshmukh, stating that the matter I have no further evidence to share.
Special Public Prosecutor in the case Shishir Hire said on behalf of the Commission of Inquiry, “Param Bir Singh has refused to give any evidence in this case other than the letter sent initially to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He has said that the affidavits submitted by Vaze and ACP Sanjay Patil were sufficient and they had nothing more to add.
Hire further said that Singh said that he did not want to cross-examine any witnesses or give further evidence in relation to the corruption allegations made earlier.
Earlier, during the last hearing of the Chandiwal Commission, Singh, through his counsel, had sought an adjournment and mentioned that he had challenged the scope of the commission before the Bombay HC. The HC dismissed his plea saying it was not maintainable and asked him to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
However, Singh did not appear before the commission, which eventually led to multiple summons and a bailable warrant issued against him by the panel. The commission fined Singh thrice – Rs 5,000 in June and Rs 25,000 on two other occasions – for failing to appear before it. The CID team that issued the summons informed the commission that they could not locate Singh at his Mumbai or Chandigarh residence.
In March this year, the Maharashtra government set up a one-man commission of retired Justice Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to probe Singh’s allegations against Deshmukh. The next hearing of the case will be on November 22.
Last week, two non-bailable warrants were also issued against Singh in connection with various cases of extortion registered at local police stations in Mumbai and neighboring Thane district.
Deshmukh had resigned as the state’s home minister in April this year. NS Nationalist Congress Party The (NCP) leader has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.
After his arrest on Monday, Deshmukh was remanded to ED custody till November 6.
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