Param Bir Singh not to be arrested in atrocities case till May 20: State to HC

In a temporary reprieve for Param Bir Singh, the Maharashtra government on Thursday assured the Bombay high court (HC) that it will not be arresting the former Mumbai Police commissioner in relation to the FIR (first information report) registered against him at Akola on April 13 on the basis of a complaint lodged by a personnel

In a temporary reprieve for Param Bir Singh, the Maharashtra government on Thursday assured the Bombay high court (HC) that it will not be arresting the former Mumbai Police commissioner in relation to the FIR (first information report) registered against him at Akola on April 13 on the basis of a complaint lodged by a personnel.

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The case, in which Singh and several others are booked for various offences, including atrocities under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was later transferred to Thane Police.

The division bench of justice PB Varale and justice NR Borkar, while hearing the application filed by Singh’s counsel senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, was informed that the FIR was registered against him as retribution for the grievances and complaints of corruption he had raised against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

The application by Singh stated that he was being pressured to withdraw the March 20 letter written by him to the chief minister against Deshmukh, but as he had refused to comply, the FIR was registered against him. In light of this, the application sought an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the “malicious attempts” to pressure him to withdraw his March 20 letter.

The application also sought restricting the investigations into the FIR registered against him pending the hearing of the plea in HC, and also to quash the case as it was “wholly arbitrary and illegal” and issued with “sinister motives”.

Jethmalani further submitted that as the applicant was apprehending his arrest, he should be protected and no coercive action must be taken against him till the next date of hearing.

Senior advocate Darius Khambata for the state informed the court that the government needed time to reply to Singh’s application and assured the court that it would arrest the former Mumbai Police commissioner till the next date of hearing.

“The FIR was registered on April 13 and we are now at May 13. He has not been arrested till now,” said Khambata.

The court accepted the assurance by Khambata and posted the hearing of the petition to May 20.