Maharashtra government and its former home minister Anil Deshmukh moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging the Bombay High Court order directing CBI probe into the allegations of corruption and misconduct levelled against him by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Sachin Patil, the Maharashtra Standing Council on behalf of Anil Deshmukh and Maharashtra Government said, “We have filed an appeal on behalf of the State Government against the Bombay High Court order of yesterday.”
Anil Deshmukh’s counsel Sudhanshu S Choudhari said that he has also filed a petition in the apex court against the High Court order of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. On the 5th of April, during the hearing in the corruption case, the Bombay High Court (HC) ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. The court also directed the agency to register a first information report (FIR) if any cognizable offence is found. The petition was heard by a division bench of Bombay HC comprising the Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni.
Meanwhile, on the 5th of April Anil Deshmukh submitted his resignation. The resignation has been addressed to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Mr. Deshmukh’s resignation was in the wake of recent allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. Recently, on the 25th of March, Param Bir Singh repeated the allegations of graft against Anil Deshmukh. He made the same allegations against Anil Deshmukh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
In his petition, he accused the Maharashtra Home Minister of interfering in police investigations and involving in severe “malpractices”. Param Bir Singh said Anil Deshmukh had asked police officers, including suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze, who has been arrested in the case of a bomb scare near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence, to collect Rs. 100 crore each month from bars and restaurants.
