In Sachin Vaze’s new stand, he does not remember paying bribes to Anil Deshmukh

Sachin Vaze told the Chandiwal commission that he never collected money from Mumbai’s bars and restaurants for Anil Deshmukh nor gave any money to the former home minister or his staff

MUMBAI: Dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze told the justice (retired) KU Chandiwal commission on Tuesday that former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and his office staff never made any demands for money from him. Also, he claimed he did not collect money from any bar owners and therefore there was no occasion for him to handover any money to the personal secretary of the then home minister.

Dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze told the Chandiwal commission set up in March this year to look into allegations of extortion and money laundering case levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh (HT photo/Bhushan Koyande)

Vaze’s assertion on Tuesday is at variance with his three statements to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) where the sacked police officer claimed that he was instructed to collect bribes from bars and restaurants in Mumbai for Deshmukh, who was arrested by ED last month and is in judicial custody.

The Kailas Uttamchand Chandiwal commission of inquiry was constituted by the Maharashtra government in March this year to look into the allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh against Deshmukh.

It is not clear if, or how Sachin Vaze’s new stand on Anil Deshmukh will impact the multiple cases against the minister and his top aides who are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED.

As Anil Deshmukh’s lawyer Girish Kulkarni cross-examined Sachin Vaze on Tuesday, he insisted that he never collected money (from Mumbai’s bars and restaurants) for Deshmukh or for his staff. Vaze also said that he never gave any money to Deshmukh or his staff and also, Deshmukh or his ministry never interfered with the investigations of Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) that Vaze previosuly headed, said Kulkarni.

Asked if anyone from Anil Deshmukh’s office or he himself asked Vaze to collect money from bars or restaurants, the dismissed cop said that he doesn’t remember anything. The former police officer, who in the past also alleged that Deshmukh demanded ₹2 crore to let him continue in service, was asked if there was any occasion when he had to pay former home minister Anil Deshmukh. He responded saying, “No”.

Advocate Kulkarni asked Vaze, “I suggest, there was no payment by you to Kundan Shinde (Deshmukh’s personal assistant who is also in judicial custody) in the capacity as staff of Anil Deshmukh or otherwise ?” To this Vaze responded saying, “l do not recollect.”

Vaze’s denial comes days after a special Mumbai court declined bail to Shinde, underlining that the court could not disbelieve allegations of bribes being paid to the former minister’s aide even though these were made by Vaze whose integrity is under question.

ED earlier alleged that while serving as the Maharashtra home minister, Deshmukh misused his position, and through assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze — who has now been dismissed and is in Taloja jail for his alleged role in the Antilia explosives scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases — collected ₹4.7 crore from Mumbai’s bars for their “smooth functioning”.

In its chargesheet, the agency stated that Vaze used to visit Deshmukh’s official residence Dnyaneshwari regularly. Vaze allegedly collected ₹4.7 crore from various bar owners between December 2020 and February 2021, at Deshmukh’s behest. According to the agency, Vaze gave the extorted money to Shinde and subsequently, a part of the amount was routed to the charitable trust in Nagpur through various shell companies.

Deshmukh resigned as home minister on April 5, less than a month after former police commissioner Param Bir Singh wrote to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and other senior government officials, alleging that the minister ran an extortion racket. The Bombay HC ordered a federal probe into these allegations, which prompted Deshmukh’s resignation on “moral grounds”.