New Delhi: Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who is presently in the eye of the storm of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking an “impartial and fair investigation” by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the “various corrupt malpractices” of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
He has in his petition before the apex court also challenged his transfer to the Home Guards stating this was done in an “arbitrary and illegal” manner without the completion of the minimum fixed tenure of two years in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
Singh, who earlier claimed Deshmukh wanted officers to collect Rs 100 crore monthly from bars and hotels in Mumbai, has also sought protection from further coercive action from the state against him.
This comes as he was transferred last week from the Mumbai Police Commissioner’s post in the midst of a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the recovery of an explosives-laden SUV near Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s residence.
READ: Anil Deshmukh Did Not Meet Sachin Vaze As He Was Admitted To Hospital: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar
Meanwhile, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar today came to Deshmukh’s rescue amid growing clamour by the state’s opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for his resignation.
Pawar ruled out Deshmukh’s resignation stating he did not meet suspended police officer Sachin Vaze as he was admitted to a hospital that time due to coronavirus.
“It is clear that during the period about which the allegations were made, Anil Deshmukh was hospitalised. As this is clear, such demands hold no power,” he told the media.
Pawar also questioned the timing of the allegations of corruption against Deshmukh by the former Mumbai Police chief.
“If you see the former commissioner’s letter, he mentions that in mid-February he was informed by certain officers that they got such and such instructions from the Home Minister...From 6th-16th February, Deshmukh was admitted in the hospital because of corona,” he said.
NCP leader Jayant Patil also spoke on similar lines earlier on Sunday and categorically ruled out Deshmukh’s resignation.
Patil, who met the NCP chief to discuss the controversy surrounding Deshmukh, said there is no question of resignation while asserting the culprit will be punished as the ATS is investigating the Antilia bomb scare case as well as Thane-based businessmen Mansukh Hiren’s murder case.