CBI opposes Deshmukh’s bail plea in HC

The CBI claimed that in the ED’s money laundering case the HC had refused to take statements of dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Waze into consideration and granted Deshmukh bail, but in the CBI case Waze has become an approver and hence his statement cannot be ignored.

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its affidavit filed in the Bombay high court (HC) stated that getting bail in the money laundering case would not make former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh eligible for bail in the corruption case as well.

The affidavit filed by CBI’s deputy superintendent Mukesh Kumar in response to Deshmukh’s application stated that there were serious allegations of corruption and misuse of power against the then home minister and added that ED’s case was of money laundering and the HC had granted bail after raising questions on the credibility of Waze’s statements as he was a co-accused in the case. (ANI)

On October 21, the special CBI court had rejected Deshmukh’s bail application, following which he approached the HC seeking bail on the grounds that he had already been granted bail in a connected case initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on October 4. Deshmukh’s application stated that as both the cases by the ED and CBI arose out of the same offence, he deserved to be released on bail in the corruption case as well.

The CBI claimed that in the ED’s money laundering case the HC had refused to take statements of dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Waze into consideration and granted Deshmukh bail, but in the CBI case Waze has become an approver and hence his statement cannot be ignored.

The single-judge bench of justice Bharati Dangre, however, recused itself from hearing Deshmukh’s bail application in CBI’s corruption case against him after which the 73-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader’s advocates approached the bench of justice SK Shinde for fixing a date for hearing.

The affidavit filed by CBI’s deputy superintendent Mukesh Kumar in response to Deshmukh’s application stated that there were serious allegations of corruption and misuse of power against the then home minister and added that ED’s case was of money laundering and the HC had granted bail after raising questions on the credibility of Waze’s statements as he was a co-accused in the case.

The affidavit stressed on the fact that there was a marked difference in the ED and CBI case and hence Deshmukh could not seek bail on the grounds of parity. “The grant of bail to the applicant (Deshmukh) in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cannot be a fait accompli to enlarge him on bail in the present case,” the affidavit read.

“In the order of the HC granting bail to the applicant in the PMLA case, the probative value of statement of Waze is discussed in capacity of a co-accused whereas in the present (corruption) case, he had been granted pardon and therefore ceases to be an accused and now is a prosecution witness,” the affidavit stated.

The affidavit concluded that the offences registered by CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act were different from the ED case, which is registered under the PMLA. Substantiating the claim, the CBI said, “The PMLA case has no bearing on the instant CBI case. That the allegations substantiated against the present applicant are of criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable under section 7 of the PC.”

“The PMLA case is not an offshoot of the present case. It is a separate and distinct offence under the PC Act and must be considered in that perspective,” the central agency added.

The CBI has on April 21, 2021 registered an FIR against Deshmukh, after former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh accused him of trying to extort money from bar owners through some police officials, including Waze.

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