Maharashtra: CBI Takes Over 5 Cases Against Mumbai Ex-Top Cop Param Bir Singh

This comes weeks after the Supreme Court in March ordered the Maharashtra Police to hand over alleged corruption cases registered against the former Mumbai top cop to the central agency.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. (File Photo/ Getty)

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday took over as many as five cases registered against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the Maharashtra Police, news agency PTI reported.

This comes weeks after the Supreme Court in March ordered the Maharashtra Police to hand over alleged corruption cases registered against the former Mumbai top cop to the central agency.

According to reports, the Special Crime unit of the central agency registered the cases against Singh late Tuesday evening.

"All the five FIRs registered in Thane and Mumbai have now been re-registered by the CBI as its own cases in accordance with its manual," officials close to the development told PTI.

While ordering the transfer of cases against the officer, a bench of justices SK Kaul and MM Sundresh had said a thorough investigation was required to regain the faith of people in the state police.

"The exigencies in the advancement of principles of justice require the investigation to be transferred to CBI. We are not saying appellant (Singh) is a whistle-blower or anyone involved in this case is washed with milk," the bench said while allowing the appeal filed by Singh.

The bench, however, refused to revoke the suspension of Singh and said all future FIRs too would be transferred to the CBI.

The top court even termed the legal clash between former Mumbai Police Commissioner and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh as a "battle royale".

In its order, the SC also pointed out that if there were any FIRs registered against Singh in future, then these will also be transferred to the CBI.

Currently, several cases of extortion, corruption, and misconduct have been lodged against Singh who was removed from the post of Mumbai Police chief over his alleged mishandling of the Antilia bomb scare case.

The Bombay High Court, in September last year, had dismissed Singh's petition seeking quashing of inquiries initiated against him by the Maharashtra government.

In November, SC granted protection from arrest to Singh in criminal cases lodged against him. 

Defending himself, Singh alleged that the Maharashtra government framed him in false cases after he accused Deshmukh of ordering police officer Sachin Vaze to collect money from bars and restaurants to the tune of Rs 100 crore.

(With inputs from agencies.)