SC dismisses Anil Deshmukh’s plea challenging Bombay HC order on CBI probe

By LE Desk

New Delhi, April 8: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, challenging the Bombay High Court’s order that had allowed a preliminary CBI probe against him. The Supreme Court also dismissed a similar plea filed by the Maharashtra government in the same case.

Delivering its order, the Supreme Court said the people involved in the matter do require to be investigated by an independent agency. “What has been directed by the high court is a preliminary inquiry, and we are not inclined to interfere,” the court said.

“It is only preliminary inquiry, nothing is wrong in it when serious allegations are made by a senior officer against a senior minister,” the apex court said, as reported by India Today.

Arguing on behalf of Anil Deshmukh, Kapil Sibal said, “There have been cases where there were diary entries kept by business houses about senior officers and this court [Supreme Court] denied inquiry saying there is no actionable evidence. This court has said that a HC cannot direct investigation on the basis of anonymous complaints or vague allegations.”

He argued that Anil Deshmukh and Param Bir Singh did not speak with each other about the alleged crime and Param Bir Singh has said that he heard the allegations from someone else.

“When there is only hearsay, how can there be an investigation?” Sibal asked.

On Monday, the Bombay High Court allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe allegations levelled against Anil Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. The court has given CBI 15 days to complete a preliminary investigation in this matter.

On March 20, three days after being removed as Mumbai Police chief, Param Bir Singh wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that the then home minister Anil Deshmukh had asked police officers to collect Rs 100 crore for him every month through extortion.

Anil Deshmukh had termed these allegations “baseless”. He said it is Param Bir Singh’s ploy to escape legal action against him for the “serious security lapses” of “unpardonable nature” in the bomb scare incident outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai house.

After the Bombay High Court order on Monday, Anil Deshmukh resigned as home minister. A day later, he and the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court arguing that the high court did not follow procedure.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/sc-dismisses-anil-deshmukh-s-plea-challenging-bombay-hc-order-on-cbi-probe-1788668-2021-04-08