Lawyer moves Bombay HC, seeks CBI probe against Deshmukh, Singh

If Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh “misused his authority to extort money from bars and restaurant owners”, outgoing Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh “did not show good intentions” as head of Mumbai Police when he just sat over the matter for over a year and failed to raise his voice.

This argument was raised by a Mumbai-based lawyer in the Bombay High Court on Tuesday (March 23) by way of a criminal writ petition, seeking a CBI inquiry against both Deshmukh and Singh.

The lawyer, advocate Jaishri Patil, urged the High Court to direct the police to take note of a complaint filed by her with the Malabar Hill Police station and register an FIR.

Patil said the police should secure CCTV footage of all the locations where the alleged criminal conspiracy took place. She said that prompt action should be taken or crucial evidence may get destroyed.

Also read: Question of Anil Deshmukh’s resignation does not arise, says Sharad Pawar

Two days after he was removed unceremoniously as Mumbai police chief, Param Bir Singh wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, accusing state Home Minister and senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh of indulging in “malpractices” and pressurizing inspector Sachin Waze for collecting Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. “The Hon’ble Home Minister told Waze that he had a target to accumulate Rs 100 crore a month. For achieving the aforesaid target, the Home Minister told Waze that there are about 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of Rs 2-3 lakh each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of Rs 40-50 crore was achievable. The Home Minister added that the rest of the collection could be made from other sources,” Singh wrote in a letter addressed to the CM.

Singh further claimed that Deshmukh had invited Sachin Vaze for a meeting at his residence in relation to the collection of funds for himself.

Also read: Param Bir Singh challenges transfer in SC, seeks CBI probe against minister

While the letter written by Singh to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray does not mention the Antilia security case, Singh wrote at the end that he had to pay the price for resisting Deshmukh’s “interference” in work of the Mumbai Police.

On February 25, a Scorpio SUV was found parked near Ambani’s residence ‘Antilia’ with gelatin sticks and a threat letter. Hiran was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5. His family alleged that Waze had a role in his death. Waze was arrested by the NIA on March 13.