Anil Deshmukh case: Maharashtra govt v/s CBI hearing to be held on June 8

A vacation bench of the Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday adjourned to June 8 hearing on the petition filed by the state government seeking to drop two topics from the purview of investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the corruption charges against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh

A vacation bench of the Bombay high court (HC) on Wednesday adjourned to June 8 hearing on the petition filed by the state government seeking to drop two topics from the purview of investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the corruption charges against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.

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The adjournment came after the state agreed to CBI’s contention that the petition be placed for hearing before the bench headed by chief justice Dipankar Datta, which had on April 5 directed the central agency to conduct a preliminary probe into the allegations of corruption made by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh against Deshmukh, as the petition essentially involved interpretation of the April 5 order.

The state government agreement was based on the condition that CBI would not seek certain documents from the state related to offences that were included in two unnumbered paragraphs in the first information report (FIR) registered against Deshmukh after the HC directed preliminary probe was concluded.

The documents sought by the central agency included the communication by former commissioner of state intelligence Rashmi Shukla in August 2020 to her superiors alleging political interference in posting and transfers of police officers in the state, and the minutes of the June 2020 police establishment board meeting which reinstated arrested assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze after 15 years of suspension.

After the counsel for CBI assured the bench that it would not seek the said documents till June 9, the court directed its registry to place the matter before the bench headed by the chief justice on June 8.

On Wednesday, when the state government’s petition against CBI came up for hearing before the vacation bench of justice SJ Kathawalla and justice SP Tavade, the bench sought to know from special senior counsel Rafique Dada, for the state, whether he was agreeable to the CBI’s contention that the petition should be heard by the same bench which passed the April 5 order.

After taking instructions, Dada submitted that the state was agreeable, provided CBI did not press for the documents pertaining to the two issues that it had included in the unnumbered paragraphs in its FIR against Deshmukh.

Additional solicitor generals SV Raju and Anil Singh, for CBI, after taking instructions informed the court that it would not press for the documents till June 9 if the petition was heard by the same bench which had passed the April 5 order.

After hearing both the sides, the bench adjourned the hearing and directed the registry to place the matter before the division bench of the CJ on June 8 at 10.30am.

In the previous hearing on May 21, during preliminary arguments, the state had objected to the scope of the investigation by CBI as it had included issues pertaining to the report by Shukla and the reinstatement of Vaze in its FIR. Dada had submitted that as these issues had nothing to do with the allegations made by Singh against Deshmukh, it was an example of over-reach by CBI as the April 5 order had directed the agency to conduct only a preliminary probe into the allegations. Dada had also added that CBI had not followed procedure and had gone beyond the norms laid down in its manual of taking prior approval of the state.

CBI had, however, contended that the issues involved had far-reaching consequences and the April 5 order had not put any restrictions on CBI with regards to the extent of its preliminary probe. Raju had further referred to Supreme Court judgements which had set aside objections by other states regarding the over-reach by CBI in its investigations.