Sachin Vaze’s statement is well corroborated and established: CBI Court

Prima facie it is established that Vaze was used by applicant Anil Deshmukh and others for collection of bribe money from bar owners,” says the order

Mumbai: The special CBI court, which on Friday rejected the bail pleas of former home minister Anil Deshmukh and his personal secretary Sanjeev Palande in a corruption case, has averred in its order that the statement of dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze in the case was “well corroborated and established”. The special court’s order was made available on Saturday.

The order states that on February 24, 2021, under the guise of answering a question asked in the legislative assembly, Vaze was called by Deshmukh to his residence. (PTI)

Vaze, the controversial officer from the Mumbai police, turned approver against Deshmukh in July. “Prima facie it is established that Vaze was used by applicant Anil Deshmukh and others for collection of bribe money from bar owners,” says the order. “After perusal of statements of witnesses, it appears that the CBI has established that there was a meeting of Vaze (approver) with applicant Anil Deshmukh and accused No 2 Sanjeev Palande. The factum of demand and collection of money from bar owners/establishments is well corroborated and established.”

The order adds that the “handing over of collected bribe money to accused No 3 Kundan Shinde (Deshmukh’s personal assistant) for and on behalf of applicant Anil Deshmukh is also established through the confessional statement of Vaze and the circumstances surrounding it”. The special judge said Vaze’s statements to the CBI had been independently corroborated by other witnesses.

The order is, however, silent on the question raised by Deshmukh about the contradictions in Vaze’s deposition before the Justice K U Chandiwal enquiry commission.

Going into the details of payments made to Vaze, the special court noted that in January 2021, Uday Shetty and Rama Shankar paid ₹ 81 lakh and Mahesh Shetty and Jaya Pujari paid ₹ 1,34,50,000, while in February 2021, Uday Shetty and Rama Shankar paid ₹ 83 lakh and Mahesh Shetty and Jaya Pujari paid ₹ 1,31,50,000. “Thus, a total amount of ₹ 4,70,00,000­ was paid by the orchestra bar owners to Vaze,” says the order.

Orchestra bars owners have stated that they were compelled to give bribes to Vaze in order to run their establishments. The court noted that Vaze delivered the money collected in the first round between December 2020 and January 2021 to Deshmukh through his PA Kundan Shinde in the last week of January 2021.

The order states that on February 24, 2021, under the guise of answering a question asked in the legislative assembly, Vaze was called by Deshmukh to his residence. “After the meeting, Deshmukh stopped him and inquired about the collection of money. (Vaze) told Anil Deshmukh that he had given a total amount of ₹ 4,70,00,000 to Shinde. Deshmukh told him that it is not as per expectation and asked Palande to look into it. Thus, investigation has established the factum of collection of money from the bar owners/ establishments and delivery of the same through Kundan Shinde,” the order says, adding that the “visit and further meetings of Vaze are corroborated by visitor register entry and by the statements of Ramesh Manale and Venkatesh Bhat”.

The order further states that Anil Deshmukh told Vaze that as per his information, there were 1,750 orchestra bars in Mumbai, and if ₹ 3 lacs was taken from each bar per month, an amount of ₹ 40 crore to ₹ ­50 crore could easily be collected. Therefore, Anil Deshmukh directed Vaze to collect an amount of ₹ 4,0­50 crore per month from such bars. “This fact is independently corroborated by ACP Sanjay Patil in his statement.”

The special court has also relied on chats that took place between Patil and former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh on March 20, 2021. “In the said chat, Patil stated that such a discussion had indeed taken place. Further, Vaze has stated that Anil Deshmukh had asked him to collect money on his behalf from the bars in the presence of Sanjeev Palande,” the court noted. “This lends credence to the version of Vaze as regards the alleged discussion with Anil Deshmukh and Sanjeev Palande on 24.02.2021.”