Court asks central agency to wrap up the inquiry in 15 days into charges of malpractice levelled against the former home minister, says there is no need for an FIR at this stage
Param Bir Singh had alleged irregularities in police transfers and postings
The Bombay High Court has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a ‘preliminary inquiry’ into the allegations of serious malpractices against NCP leader Anil Deshmukh, who resigned as the state’s home minister on Monday. A division bench of chief justice Dipankar Dutta and justice GS Kulkarni asked the CBI to complete the inquiry within 15 days.
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NCP leader Anil Deshmukh resigned as the state’s home minister on Monday
Three public interest litigations and a criminal writ petition had been filed last month, seeking a CBI probe into the alleged malpractice.
One of the PILs was filed by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, while the other two were moved by lawyer Ghanshyam Upadhyay and Mohan Bhide, a teacher. Mumbai-based lawyer Dr. Jaishree Patil had filed the criminal writ petition.
The HC order came on the writ petition of Dr Patil. On March 21, Dr. Patil had lodged a complaint with Malabar Hill police station and the Director, Anti-Corruption Bureau of CBI. The HC agreed with the petitioner on the need for an “unbiased, impartial, fair but effective probe so that the truth is unearthed and the devil, if any”.
The order reads, “Here, Deshmukh is the Home Minister. The police department is under his control and direction. There can be no fair, impartial, unbiased and untainted probe, if the same were entrusted to the State Police Force. As of necessity, the probe has to be entrusted to an independent agency like the CBI.”
The order goes on to say, “We do not see an immediate reason to direct registration of an FIR by the CBI based on Dr. Patil’s complaint, interest of justice, in our opinion, would be sufficiently served if the Director, CBI is directed to initiate a preliminary inquiry into the complaint of Dr. Patil which has the letter of Param Bir addressed to the Chief Minister. The press release of Deshmukh suggests that he is not averse to facing any inquiry. It is, therefore, ordered accordingly.”
On Monday, the chief justice said, “We hope and trust that the officer(s) appointed for the purpose of conducting preliminary inquiry shall receive due cooperation from individuals/agencies who are approached therefor. Once the preliminary inquiry is complete, the Director, CBI shall be at liberty to decide on the future course of action, also in accordance with law.”
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