Ex-Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh seeks default bail in corruption case, claims CBI charge sheet 'incomplete'

Anil Deshmukh. File Pic

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday sought default bail from a special court here in a corruption case against him being probed by the CBI, claiming the probe agency has filed an "incomplete" charge sheet in the case.

The CBI had last week filed a 59-page charge sheet in the case against NCP leader Deshmukh and his two former aides - Sanjeev Palande and Kundan Shinde - in the corruption case.

Deshmukh is currently in judicial custody in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He is lodged in the Arthtur Road jail in Mumbai.

In his plea seeking default bail, moved through advocates Inderpal Singh and Aniket Nikam, Deshmukh claimed the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 2 is "incomplete".

"By mere filing a compilation of 59 pages, termed as a charge sheet, without completing the entire investigation and without filing a final and full-fledged charge-sheet, as understood under Section 173 CrPC, the prosecuting agency cannot subjugate the indefeasible statutory right of the applicant to claim default bail," the plea said.

Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) pertains to report of a police officer on the completion of investigation in a case.

Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in March last year alleged that Deshmukh, who was then the state home minister, had given a target to police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from restaurants and bars in the city.

Deshmukh denied the allegations, but had stepped down from his post after the Bombay High Court directed the CBI to register a case against him.

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