Anil Deshmukh moves Supreme Court against HC order directing CBI probe into corruption allegations against him

The move comes after the HC on Monday ordered a CBI probe against Deshmukh on allegations made by former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh, who accused the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader of running an "extortion racket".

Anil Deshmukh, who resigned as home minister of Maharashtra on Monday, moved the Supreme Court (SC) today against a Bombay high court (HC) order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to open preliminary investigation in the corruption allegations against him.

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. (ANI)

The Maharashtra government too is moving the SC regarding the matter. "The government will challenge the high court's order in the Supreme Court," Dinesh Walse Patil, who replaced Deshmukh as Maharashtra home minister, said on Tuesday.

The move comes after the HC on Monday ordered a CBI probe against Deshmukh on allegations made by former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh, who accused the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader of running an "extortion racket".

“There can be no independent probe if it is given to the police where Deshmukh is the home minister. The interest of justice will be done if the director of CBI is allowed to conduct a preliminary inquiry. Such an inquiry be conducted in accordance with law and be concluded within 15 days. Once the preliminary inquiry is complete, it will be at the discretion of director CBI to decide on the further course of action,” the Bombay HC mentioned in its order, which came hours before Deshmukh resigned on Monday.

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Following the bomb scare case outside Antilia, residence of billionaire Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai, Maharashtra government ordered the transfer of Param Bir Singh citing mismanagement of the case.

In his letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh asked police officer Sachin Vaze, suspended in Ambani case, to extort money amounting to ₹100 crore per month from bars and restaurants. The NCP leader has denied all the allegations.