Param Bir Singh cannot be called a whistleblower, state govt tells Supreme Court

Param Bir Singh. File pic

Suspended IPS officer and former commissioner of Mumbai Police, Param Bir Singh, recorded his statement before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday, in connection with a money-laundering case registered against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. The agency had registered the case based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI).

The state government has told the Supreme Court that Singh cannot be considered a "whistleblower" under the law, as he chose to speak out against alleged corruption involving former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh only after his transfer, the Maharashtra Seeking dismissal of Singh's plea for a CBI probe into the entire matter and against any coercive action by the state, the Maharashtra government has filed a reply affidavit in the Apex court and said that the ongoing probe in criminal cases against the former top cop not be interfered with.

Singh, who was untraceable for months, surfaced in November and appeared at the Unit 11 of Mumbai Crime Branch to record his statement in connection with an extortion case against him and his close confidante Sachin Waze. According to sources, the ED had issued at least three summons to Singh in the case, but he did not appear before the agency. He was also skipping summons issued by the Crime Branch, Maharashtra CID, Chandiwal Commission and NIA.

Requesting anonymity, an ED officer said, "The entire case was based on the letter he gave to the chief minister, which led multiple agencies to probe the matter, and several people, including the former home minister, were arrested. Finally his detailed statement was recorded and he has been asked to appear before the agency as and when required."

A deputy director-rank officer recorded his statement for nearly five hours. Last week the state government suspended Singh based on multiple cases of extortion registered against him. On Saturday, the Crime Branch filed the first charge sheet against him and Waze. The Crime Branch has said that Waze was extorting money from hoteliers and bookies on the instructions of Singh and he used to refer to him as Number 1, and the same has been established in their probe.

However, after the arrest of Deshmukh's personal assistant and personal secretary, the ED in their charge sheet said that he was Waze's Number 1 as the latter had mentioned the same in his statement.