CBI gets sanction from Maharashtra government to prosecute Anil Deshmukh

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has obtained a sanction from the Maharashtra government to prosecute former home minister Anil Deshmukh for corruption

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has obtained a sanction from the Maharashtra government to prosecute former home minister Anil Deshmukh for corruption.

Mumbai, India - January 8, 2020: Home Minister Anil Deshmukh with Pravin Darekar during Maharashtra assembly special sessions at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday January 08, 2020 (Photo by Vijayanand Gupta/Hindustan Times) (Vijayanand Gupta/HT Photo)

On Wednesday, the agency submitted the sanction order before the special CBI court during a hearing of the case. The court asked the prosecution to provide the copy of the sanction order to Deshmukh’s lawyer and also called for their response.

Deshmukh was arrested by the CBI on April 6 this year following corruption allegations levelled against him by former Mumbai commissioner of police Parambir Singh. CBI filed its charge sheet in the case on July 12. Deshmukh, whose bail order was reserved by Bombay High Court on Wednesday, was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on November 2, 2021 for alleged money laundering.

In addition to the allegations of corruption and extortion from bar owners made by Parambir Singh, the CBI also took note of the reinstatement of Sachin Vaze—he had remained under suspension for over 15 years—to make a case that Deshmukh exerted undue influence in the transfers and postings of senior police officers in the state.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) too had registered a money laundering case against Deshmukh, his son Hrishikesh and others on the basis of the CBI’s April 2021 FIR. The ED, in its probe, has already found that on Deshmukh’s instructions, Vaze had allegedly 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. In his statement to the ED, Vaze had claimed that he had handed over the “extorted money” in two instalments to Kundan Shinde, Deshmukh’s personal assistant.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday used Vaze’s claim to argue during a hearing of Deshmukh’s bail application. The offence of money laundering, said ED, was considered on par with murder and terrorism, and as there was evidence of Deshmukh’s direct and indirect involvement in laundering money, the application should be rejected.

Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh for ED also submitted that Deshmukh had laundered money through NGOs in the name of donations and as such it was detrimental to the financial health of the country.

Deshmukh had earlier argued that Vaze’s statements should be relied upon at the time of trial and not for bail. Singh however said that it was not sustainable as Vaze’s statements suggest criminal activity which have to be taken into consideration by the HC while hearing the bail application.

When the court sought to know whether Deshmukh’s health condition could be considered in regular bail for release for a short duration, Singh submitted that considering the crime for which the applicant was booked there was no question of granting bail and that he had been provided medical treatment as and ewhen required.

Advocate Vikram Chaudhari while arguing in rejoinder to the ED submissions said that the purpose of the case was not to find out the truth but to defame and malign Deshmukh. Chaudhari said, “He is 73-years-old and suffers from ischemic heart disease and a host of ailments but the ED had stated that he suffers only from hypertension and heart disease.” He added that as the evidence relied upon by ED was not of sterling quality and there were many holes in the evidence, relief should be provided.

The single judge bench of justice N J Jamadar concluded the hearing and reserved order.