HC dismisses Param Bir’s petition for quashing state govt inquiries against him

Param Bir Singh. File pic

The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by IPS officer Param Bir Singh seeking to quash inquiries initiated against him by the Maharashtra government, and said he can approach the Central Administrative Tribunal. A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar held that it was a service matter, and rejected his claim that the government's action was a consequence of his allegations of corruption against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

After he was shunted out as the Mumbai police commissioner in March 2021 in the aftermath of the Antilia bomb scare case, Singh, in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, leveled corruption allegations against Deshmukh. "The petitioner alleges that the actions were initiated with a view to give a counter-blast to the outcome of the petitions instituted by the petitioner (seeking CBI probe against Deshmukh). This claim, prima facie, does not hold ground in respect of the action initiated against him on the basis of the complaint of (police inspector) Anup Dange," the high court said in its order.

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Inspector Dange had made a complaint of corruption against Singh in February this year, before the Antilia bomb scare incident, the judges noted. If Singh approached the right forum, his plea should be heard and decided without any prejudice to the present order, the court added.

Preliminary inquiries

His main grievance was about the preliminary inquiries started against him, and these issues "can legitimately be agitated before and adjudicated by the Central Administrative Tribunal," the court said. Only the tribunal is empowered to delve into the legality, propriety and correctness of the government's action in this case, it held. Singh had challenged two orders of the Maharashtra government initiating preliminary inquiries against him - one for alleged dereliction of duty and misconduct and second for alleged corruption. The first order was passed by former home minister Deshmukh on April 1 and the second was passed on April 20 by current home minister Dilip Walse-Patil. The state government had opposed Singh's petition, contending that it was purely a service matter.

Set up hastily?

The issues raised by him were squarely covered by the Administrative Tribunals Act, government's counsel Darius Khambata had argued. Also, the original two preliminary inquiries challenged in the plea did not stand anymore after Director General of Police Sanjay Pandey, who was to conduct them, withdrew himself following allegations leveled against him by Singh in the HC petition, the lawyer said. The government later ordered fresh inquiries, one headed by the director general of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau and another by the additional chief secretary (planning), Khambata said. Singh's counsel Mahesh Jethmalani argued that the preliminary inquiries were set up hastily, and were nothing but vendetta after Singh complained against Deshmukh. In his petition, Singh had also alleged that DGP Pandey told him that the inquiries were the fall-out of his allegations against Deshmukh, an NCP leader.

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