SC to hear tomorrow Param Bir Singh’s plea seeking CBI probe against Anil Deshmukh

The former Mumbai Police commissioner has accused the Maharashtra home minister of running an 'extortion racket,' through assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze.

The Supreme Court will on Wednesday hear a petition filed by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh whom he has accused of running an 'extortion racket.'

A two-judge bench of the top court, comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R Subhash Reddy will take up the plea filed by Singh, who was transferred last week by the Maharashtra government to the Home Guards, for "mishandling" the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case.

In his petition, filed on Monday, the senior police official also sought a stay on his transfer. Singh has alleged that he was transferred to the "low-key" post in the Home Guards "immediately after" he brought Deshmukh's alleged corrupt practices to the notice of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, deputy CM Ajit Pawar and some other senior leaders of the state government.

In his letter to Thackeray, mailed on March 20, the senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer had alleged that Deshmukh had directed assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze to collect ₹100 crore per month from hotels, bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Singh had mentioned meeting Deshmukh and Vaze "in and around mid-February and thereafter" at the home minister's residence. It was at these meetings, the officer alleged, that Vaze was tasked with collecting the money.

Vaze is currently in custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is handling the Ambani bomb scare probe and the related Mansukh Hiran death case.

Both Deshmukh and his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have denied Singh's allegations, with the minister even threatening to file a defamation case against him. Both have cited Deshmukh's Covid-19 diagnosis in February to counter Singh's claims.

Besides the NCP, Maharashtra's ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprises the Shiv Sena and the Congress. NCP chief Sharad Pawar held press conferences on Sunday and Monday, backing his party colleague Deshmukh.