Supreme Court to hear Param Bir Singh's plea against Maharashtra Home Minister on Wednesday

Former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh. File pic

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear a plea by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who has unleashed a barrage of allegations against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, and seeking a CBI probe against him.

In his petition, Singh has accused Deshmukh of adopting corrupt practices in posting or transfer of police officers and seeking to implicate BJP leaders in MP Mohan Delkar's suicide. He urged the Supreme Court to direct a fair CBI investigation into the acts of Deshmukh in abuse of his official position.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R. Subhash Reddy will hear Singh's petition.

Singh, in the petition, said on February 22, Member of Parliament Mohan Delkar was found dead in his Mumbai hotel room, leaving behind a 15-page suicide note. He added that after initial inquiries and report, he initiated investigation in the matter and sought advice from the Police Department's Legal Cell.

"The petitioner was time and again pressurised by the Minister for Home, Government of Maharashtra to probe the role of certain leaders of BJP and somehow implicate them. It is submitted that there was tremendous pressure to give the entire episode a political angle. The petitioner however did not succumb to the pressure," he said in the petition.

He further accused Deshmukh of adopting corrupt practices in posting or transfers in police in addition with extortion of Rs 100 crore per month from various establishments.

Singh claimed that last August, Rashmi Shukla, Commissioner Intelligence, State Intelligence Department, through telephonic interceptions, brought out information about corrupt malpractices in postings or transfers adopted by Deshmukh. She brought it to the notice of then Director General of Police, who in turn brought it to the knowledge of the Additional Chief Secretary, Home. However, Shukla was shunted out, instead of any firm action against Deshmukh being taken.

Singh said around mid-March, he had pointed out to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and other senior leaders about the several misdeeds and malpractices carried out by the Home Minister. He said that the wrote a letter on March 20 to the Chief Minister.

"The petitioner thus apprised the Chief Minister of the true picture for consideration and corrective action, being fully cognizant to the retaliation that is likely against the petitioner for placing the true picture on record," said the petition. Later, he was transferred to from the post of the Police Commissioner of Mumbai to the Home Guard Department in an arbitrary and illegal manner without the completion of the minimum fixed tenure of two years, he added.

Singh sought the CBI to immediately conduct an unbiased, uninfluenced, impartial and fair investigation in the various corrupt malpractices carried out by Deshmukh.

The Maharashtra government had said Singh's transfer was done to ensure a free and fair investigation in the Antilia incident leading to an FIR registered on February 25, with Gamdevi Police Station as a result of a car with explosives being found at Altamount Road near Antilia, the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, for a bomb scare.

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