In a stinging observation, Bombay High Court bench tells ex-commissioner Param Bir Singh: “You are not above the law”
Former Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh. Pic/Ashish Raje
The division bench of the Bombay High Court, hearing the criminal PIL filed by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, seeking CBI enquiry into the alleged corrupt wrongdoings by state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, pulled up the former on Wednesday asking ‘why no FIR was registered’ if he was aware of the ‘corrupt malpractices.’
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Home Minister Anil Deshmukh with former top cop Param Bir Singh. File pic/Ashish Raje
When the senior advocate appearing for Singh told the HC that his client wanted to avoid the labyrinth of law as the complaint is against the state home minister, the latter was rapped by the court, saying, “You are not above law."
The bench reserved the order over the petition. Singh, in his letter to the chief minister, had alleged that Deshmukh had demanded R100 crore from the 1,750 establishments in Mumbai. The development took place after Singh was removed from the top post of Mumbai police over the Antilia bomb scare fiasco in which API Sachin Waze is the prime suspect.
Hearing the criminal PIL on Wednesday, the division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni said that “an independent enquiry cannot be initiated in the absence of an FIR.”
“You are a police officer. When you were aware that an offence was committed, you were duty-bound to register an FIR. Why did you fail to do so? Writing a letter to the chief minister will not serve the purpose,” observed the bench.
“The High Court, in a very rare instance, can order to register an FIR. Please don’t turn the High Court into a magistrate court to order an FIR under section 156 (3) of CrPC. The petitioner is a senior police officer, not a layman,” the bench said. “If the police fail to file an FIR against Deshmukh, then you (Singh) have the option to file an application before magistrate,” Chief Justice Datta said.
Senior advocate Vikram Nankani appeared for Singh and told the bench that his client wanted to avoid the labyrinth of law as the complaint is against the state home minister. Hearing this, Chief Justice Datta said, “You are not above the law.”
CJ Datta further asked Nankani, “Has Deshmukh made any statement regarding the extortion of money to collect R100 crore funds from the establishments in the presence of Singh?” The bench added that no affidavit has been filed or submitted by a police officer who was allegedly called by Deshmukh to his official residence to ‘support the allegation levelled by Singh in his petition’.
Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni questioned the maintainability of the petition. “He (Singh) has personal interest in the matter and is playing the victim card,” Kumbhakoni said. However, Nankani replied, “He is not challenging his transfer order. He is talking about political intervention in the police by bypassing him.”
Nankani added, “The allegation is coming from a senior police officer, and hence an investigation into it must be conducted by an independent agency.” The CJ asked, “Investigation into what? Where is the FIR? What stopped you from filing the FIR?” AG Kumbhakoni cited several judgments to dissuade the bench from passing a judgment to initiate investigation by an independent agency.
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