Chandiwal Commission gives clean chit to Anil Deshmukh

Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal submitted the report, which had an additional 1,400 pages of annexures, in the presence of home minister Dilip Walse Patil

Mumbai: The Justice KU Chandiwal Commission appointed last March to probe former city police commissioner Parambir Singh’s allegations of corruption and extortion against former home minister Anil Deshmukh submitted a 201-page report to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday giving the politician a clean chit and called the Indian Police Services (IPS) officer’s claims false.

The Commission was required to enquire into three main things: whether Singh had submitted any proof in his letter dated March 20, 2021, which established that Deshmukh or any officer from his office committed any offence/ misconduct as alleged (HT File Photo)

Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal submitted the report, which had an additional 1,400 pages of annexures, in the presence of home minister Dilip Walse Patil.

The retired judge of the Bombay high court (HC) was appointed to lead a single-member probe on March 30, 2021 after Singh wrote a letter addressed to the CM, deputy CM, chief secretary and other posts in authority in which he claimed that Deshmukh ran an extortion racket and asked police officers to collect ₹100 crore every month from bars, restaurants and other establishments.

The Commission was required to enquire into three main things: whether Singh had submitted any proof in his letter dated March 20, 2021, which established that Deshmukh or any officer from his office committed any offence/ misconduct as alleged; whether the allegations levelled by Singh, citing the messages from assistant commissioner of police Sanjay Patil, assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze have any truth; and whether it warranted an investigation by Anti-Corruption Bureau or any other investigating agency.

The Chandiwal Commission examined Deshmukh, Singh (who appeared after several summons and once a bailable warrant was issued) minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik, Vaze (one of the officers Deshmukh allegedly sought to run the racket through, according to Singh) among others.

Though the report is unlikely to be made public anytime soon, officials from the home department said that the report gave Deshmukh a “clean chit”.

“The former Mumbai police commissioner could not submit the proof needed to substantiate his allegations that then home minister had ordered any extortion. It also mentioned that it is an unbecoming of such a senior IPS officer to write a letter on the basis of what other officers say. Despite having given opportunity to submit the proof, Singh failed to give any, the report stated,” an official said on the condition of anonymity.

“The report stated that Singh was booked in four extortion cases booked at various places after his letter bomb. It also has questioned why the extortion cases were not lodged immediately after they happened,” the official further said.

“I have not seen the report as it was submitted to the CM by Chandiwal today. It will be sent to the chief secretary for further action,” said Patil.

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president Madhav Bhandari questioned the Commission and said that it had no “sanctity” as “it was not constituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act.” “Why did the government spend money and waste time on constituting a panel when a probe was being conducted by CBI as per the (high court’s) order?” he asked.

NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said that Deshmukh will be proved innocent. “We have maintained from day one that Anil Deshmukh was innocent and the allegations levelled by the former police commissioner were baseless. They were based on hearsay and he had no evidence to substantiate them. Even the two officials named by him for their involvement have denied such extortion took place. The CBI too had changed its claims related to the figure of extortion from time to time in the court. We are sure that Deshmukh will come out clean eventually once the report is made public,” he said.

Though the Chandiwal Commission was delegated the powers of civil court, it was not constituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act 1952. When the probe panel is constituted under the Act, it has the legal power to summon witnesses. Such a report needs to be tabled in the state legislature first, officials said. However, the current report can be made public without being tabled in the legislature.

Deshmukh, who denied all charges, resigned in April 2021 after the Bombay HC permitted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a preliminary probe. Although the Central agency registered a First Information Report against Deshmukh under section of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act on April 21, it only recently took custody of the senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) politician who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2021 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Legal experts, the report will have no bearing on the ongoing CBI or ED investigations. “The CBI or any investigating agency has its own scope and machinery to probe the allegations. The CBI probe is being done as per the court order. The court verdict in the case will be based on the investigation by the agencies. The Chandiwal Commission is just a fact-finding body and will help the former home minister politically,” said a former law secretary who did not wished to be named.