Bhuvana Marni
Published on: October 7, 2022 at 21:14 IST
Anil Deshmukh, a former state home minister, applied for bail in a corruption case brought by the CBI on Thursday, two days after being released on bail in connection with a money laundering case brought by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
He is still being held in that case.
According to the Prevention of Corruption Act, Deshmukh was detained on corruption-related accusations.
The testimony of Waze, who said that bribes were accepted from Mumbai bar owners at the direction of Deshmukh, is one of the pieces of evidence presented by the CBI.
“The entire case is based on among other things on the statement of Parambir Singh and Sachin Waze, a tainted cop… regarding him there is ample evidence available on record that he himself was in fact the sole person instrumental in the collection of illegal bribe money from bar owners,” the bail plea filed through lawyers Aniket Nikam and Inderpal Singh said.
In support of its argument, the state government’s request for an investigation into charges made by Singh against Deshmukh by Justice K. U. Chandiwal Commission referenced Waze’s backtracking.
After receiving permission from the central organisation, Waze submitted a request for a pardon, which the CBI court accepted in June. Waze is now a witness for the prosecution in the case.
“The agency has proceeded to get the main/principal accused Sachin Waze declared as an approver, which itself demonstrates that there is absolutely no substance in the case and in order to sensationalize the matter and somehow continue the harassment and persecution of the applicant, the evidence is being fabricated,” the bail plea stated.
The article detailed Waze’s multiple charges and said he was Singh’s “blue-eyed child,” whose 16-year police ban had been lifted.
“Both have acted in cahoots with each other and in order to save their own skin as well as to pass the buck on to the applicant, absolutely false statements have been made having no credibility as well as evidentiary value,” the plea alleged.
Deshmukh is a 73-year-old man with health concerns, thus he cannot be considered a flight risk if given bail, the statement continued.
The court then ordered the CBI to provide a response to the request.
In the money laundering case brought by the ED, the Bombay High Court had granted Deshmukh bail on Tuesday.