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Anil Deshmukh may walk out of Arthur Road jail today
On Tuesday, a single-judge vacation bench of justice S G Chapalgaonkar was informed by the CBI counsel, Shreeram Shirsat, that the agency had on December 16 filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court opposing the bail order
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday paved the way for former home minister Anil Deshmukh’s release from Arthur Road jail after it turned down the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) request to extend the stay on its December 12 order granting him bail.
If the probe agency fails to get any urgent relief from the Supreme Court, the 73-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader is likely to walk out of the prison on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a single-judge vacation bench of justice S G Chapalgaonkar was informed by the CBI counsel, Shreeram Shirsat, that the agency had on December 16 filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court opposing the bail order. However, it had not been able to get a hearing since the apex court was on vacation, he said, and requested the HC to continue the stay till the SC reopened.
Advocate Aniket Nikam, appearing for Deshmukh, opposed the plea and said though the order allowing his release was passed on December 12, the agency waited till December 16 - the last working day of the top court - to file the SLP.
Nikam further said a single-judge bench of justice M S Karnik first granted a 10-day stay on the effect of the bail order and then an extension till December 27.
The liberty of an individual could be jeopardised through such extensions, he said and referred to justice Karnik’s December 21 observations: “It is made clear that no further request [for extension] under any circumstances will be entertained.”
The HC accepted Nikam’s arguments, and rejected the CBI’s plea.
Reacting to the development, NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said the charges made against Deshmukh did not stand. “The allegations were political and there was no money trail found. He and his family had gone through a lot of trouble. Things will soon be clear how he was trapped.”
Deshmukh’s son Salil Deshmukh said, “The process in the court will get over by around 3 pm on Wednesday and thereafter my father will go to his Worli home.”
Deshmukh was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 2, 2021. The ED’s money-laundering case, registered on May 11 last year, was based on the FIR registered by the CBI on April 21.
In a letter to then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and others on March 20, 2021, former city police commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh had instructed certain police officers, including dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Waze, to collect ₹100 crore every month from the owners of bars and restaurants.
The agency claimed that Waze had accordingly called a meeting of bar owners, and between December 2020 and February 2021, collected ₹4.7 crore and handed over the “extorted money” in two instalments to Deshmukh’s personal assistant Kundan Shinde.
The CBI had formally arrested Deshmukh on April 6 this year and filed a charge sheet against him on July 12. The HC had on October 4 granted the NCP leader bail in the money-laundering case but he continued to remain in Arthur Road jail in connection with the CBI case.
(With inputs from Yogesh Naik)
