Anil Deshmukh to remain behind bars as CBI court rejects his bail plea in graft case

Deshmukh (71) had sought relief in the case soon after the Bombay high court had granted him bail on October 4 in a money laundering case registered against him lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

A special CBI court in Mumbai on Friday rejected a bail petition of former Maharashtra home minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh in an alleged corruption and misuse of official position case being probed by the the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The case had been registered against him by the premier probe agency in April 2021.

Deshmukh (71) had sought relief in the case soon after the Bombay high court had granted him bail on October 4 in a money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

On Thursday, special CBI court judge SH Gwalani had concluded hearing in the arguments on the bail plea and closed it for orders.

The NCP leader was arrested on November 2, 2021, and has been in judicial custody and serving jail term at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai.

He was admitted to a private hospital last week for coronary angiography.

In March 2021, former Mumbai Police comsenior IPS officer Param Bir Singh had alleged that Deshmukh, the then home minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, had given a target to police officers to collect ₹100 crore per month from restaurants and bars in Mumbai.

The high court in April 2021 directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary inquiry. The CBI, based on this inquiry, registered a first information report (FIR) against Deshmukh and his associates for alleged corruption and misuse of official power.

Soon after he resigned as the home minister with the HC ordering a CBI probe in the case.

(With agency inputs)