Sakshi Chhabra
After CBI registered an FIR against the former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on April 24 in regard to extortion charges made against him by Param Bir Singh, Anil Deshmukh has now filed a petition before the Bombay High Court in order to quash the FIR registered against him by CBI.
Param Bir Singh alleged that the NCP leader Anil Deshmukh had asked Sachin Vaze to extort 100 crore per month from the 1750 bars and restaurants present in Mumbai. This case came into the limelight when Param Bir Singh addressed a letter to the CM of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray.
Param Bir Singh also submitted important documents and details of the key meetings held. After this CBI summoned Anil Deshmukh on April 14 and was grilled by two SP rank officers.
The former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma was also under questioning by the NIA and after that former cop and Shiv Sena leader Sachin Vaze was suspended.
Anil Deshmukh had filed a petition to quash the FIR made against him and also challenged the credibility of the inquiry. The Supreme Court refused to provide relief and stated that it would not interfere in the High court’s proceedings.
The matter was heard by the bench of Justices SK Kaul and Hemant Gupta. During the hearing, senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that the High Court heard the arguments of Advocate General without even giving a chance to the state government to file a counter.
The court further noted, “The niceties of an elaborate order passed by the High Court, we are of the view that the nature of allegations, the personas involved, and the seriousness of the allegations do require an independent agency to enquire into the matter. It is a matter of public confidence given the factual scenario. We may also add that what has been directed is only a preliminary enquiry albeit by an independent agency.”