CBI court grants bail to Anil Deshmukh’s PA

The order, which came a day after the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court granted him bail, paves the way for Shinde’s release from jail.

Mumbai: A CBI court on Friday granted bail to Kundan Shinde – the personal assistant to then home minister Anil Deshmukh – in connection with the corruption case registered by the central agency against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader.

Special CBI judge SH Gwalani granted Shinde bail on furnishing a personal bond of ₹1 lakh and one or more sureties in the like amount. The court has also asked him to attend the CBI office every Monday for a month after being released from jail. The court has also asked him not to leave Greater Mumbai without prior permission of the court. (HT PHOTO)

The order, which came a day after the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court granted him bail, paves the way for Shinde’s release from jail.

Special CBI judge SH Gwalani granted Shinde bail on furnishing a personal bond of ₹1 lakh and one or more sureties in the like amount. The court has also asked him to attend the CBI office every Monday for a month after being released from jail. The court has also asked him not to leave Greater Mumbai without prior permission of the court.

This order paves the way for Shinde’s release from prison, as he has also been granted bail in the connected money laundering case registered against Deshmukh and others.

CBI had registered the FIR on April 21, 2021, after completing a preliminary enquiry into the allegations made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh that Deshmukh – then Maharashtra home minister had tried to extort money from bars owners in Mumbai through some police officials, including dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Waze – the prime accused in Antilia explosives scare and connected murder of Thane trader Mansukh Hiran.

In a letter written to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and others on March 20, 2021, Singh alleged that Deshmukh had instructed Waze and some other Mumbai police officers, to collect an amount of ₹100 crore every month from owners of bars and restaurants in Mumbai.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which subsequently registered a money laundering probe into the case, claimed that Waze had accordingly called a meeting of bar owners, and between December 2020 and February 2021, collected ₹4.7 crore from the owners of orchestra bars in Mumbai and handed over the “extorted money” in two instalments to Shinde.