Anil Deshmukh lawyer’s bail plea dismissed by Delhi court

Additional Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav said the investigation was still inconclusive and the recoveries made during the probe connected Daga with the alleged offence.

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed the bail plea of Nagpur-based advocate Anand Daga, who was a part of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s legal team, in an alleged bribery and corruption case.

 Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. (HT file photo)

Additional Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar Yadav said the investigation was still inconclusive and the recoveries made during the probe connected Daga with the alleged offence.

“… given the fact that the applicant/accused himself being a lawyer and being well-acquainted with the legal process and facing allegations of serious nature, it cannot be ruled out that he may not try to scuttle or influence the investigation which is not confined to a particular geographical area. Therefore, considering the entire gamut of facts and circumstances, the applicant/accused does not deserve to be considered for bail, at this stage,” the court said.

Daga, currently in judicial custody, was arrested for allegedly trying to subvert the Bombay high court-directed preliminary enquiry against the former minister. CBI has claimed that the agency’s sub-inspector, Abhishek Tiwari, entered into criminal conspiracy with Daga and unknown others to subvert the probe in the extortion case involving Deshmukh.

Tiwari’s bail plea was also rejected by the court, a lawyer aware of the development said.

The agency had alleged that Tiwari disclosed sensitive and confidential documents related to the case to Daga, an unauthorised person in lieu of undue advantage and illegal gratification to himself to sabotage the probe.

It had also said that Daga was allegedly involved in the ‘manipulation’ of preliminary inquiry in an extortion case against Deshmukh.

The arrests came after CBI registered an FIR against the sub-inspector, a Nagpur-based advocate, and unknown persons on certain allegations, including illegal gratification.

On August 29, a report that was allegedly part of a preliminary inquiry conducted by CBI got leaked in media. The report mentions that the agency had concluded that “no cognizable offence has been committed by Anil Deshmukh”.

The central agency in its internal inquiry found that Deshmukh’s legal team tried to bribe some lower-ranked CBI officials.

In April this year, CBI registered an FIR against Deshmukh to probe allegations that he misused his position and collected ₹4.7 crore from Mumbai’s bars for their “smooth functioning” through an assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze. Vaze is in jail for his alleged role in the Antilia explosives scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case. Deshmukh had in the past termed the allegations against him false.