CBI gets custody of Maharashtra ex-minister Anil Deshmukh

A CBI team took Deshmukh in custody from Arthur Road jail about 11 am on Wednesday after he underwent a medical examination and produced him before the court, where special public prosecutor Raj Mohan Chand sought 10-day custody of the former minister.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Wednesday remanded former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh to CBI custody till April 11 in connection with the corruption case registered against the 73-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader.

The court allowed Deshmukh to be shifted to Delhi, subject to the opinion of an orthopedic surgeon from JJ Hospital — as regards the NCP leader’s complaint of severe pain because of the fall in the jail.

The court also permitted the central agency to take Deshmukh to Delhi, subject to the opinion of an orthopedic surgeon.

A CBI team took Deshmukh in custody from Arthur Road jail about 11 am on Wednesday after he underwent a medical examination and produced him before the court, where special public prosecutor Raj Mohan Chand sought 10-day custody of the former minister.

Chand said Deshmukh’s custody was required as he was to be confronted with three others arrested in the case -- the former minister’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande, personal assistant Kundan Shinde and dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze — the alleged mastermind behind the Antilia explosives scare and the connected murder of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran.

The trio was arrested on April 4 and remanded to CBI custody till April 11.

The central investigating agency had registered the corruption case against Deshmukh on April 21, 2021, based on allegations levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh.

In a letter written to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, 2021, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh instructed certain Mumbai police officers, including Waze to collect an amount of ₹100 crore every month from Mumbai’s restaurants and bars.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also registered a money laundering case against Deshmukh, his son Hrishikesh and others on the basis of the April 2021 FIR. The ED, in its probe, has already found that on Deshmukh’s instructions, Waze had allegedly called a meeting of bar owners, and between December 2020 and February 2021, collected ₹4.7 crore from owners of orchestra bars in Mumbai. In his statement to the ED, Waze had revealed that he had handed over the “extorted money” in two instalments to Kundan Shinde.

Shinde and Palande were arrested by the ED on June 26, 2021, in the money laundering case, and on August 23, the agency filed a charge sheet that also named Waze as an accused in the same case.

Seeking Deshmukh’s CBI custody on Wednesday, Chand said the case involved “huge” corruption and the NCP leader’s custodial interrogation was necessary. He added that the CBI had already recorded Waze’s confessional statement – revealing that he was acting on Deshmukh’s instructions. He said there are inconsistencies in the statements of those arrested and Deshmukh’s custody was required to resolve these.

Advocate Aniket Nikam, who represented Deshmukh, opposed the agency’s move to shift the former minister to Delhi saying that he can be questioned in the city. Nikam added that Deshmukh was suffering from several ailments and could not undertake long travel.

He also pointed out that the NCP leader has already challenged the special court orders allowing the CBI to take his custody before the Bombay high court, but the plea could not be heard on Wednesday, as two judges recused from the trial.

The CBI counsel, however, pointed out that the hospital reports said that he was fit for travel.

At this juncture, Deshmukh intervened. “On Monday, when they (CBI team) came to take me, I fell in the bathroom (at Arthur Road jail) and since four days, I am in terrible pain. They came to examine me twice. The doctors said an MRI is needed and they will operate upon me, when the pain subsides. Right now, I am in too much pain,” he said.

He added that he was ready to co-operate with CBI investigators. “In fact, I wrote a hand-written letter to the CBI officer saying they can come to jail and record my statement, whenever required,” said the 73-year-old politician.

The court allowed Deshmukh to be shifted to Delhi, subject to the opinion of an orthopedic surgeon from JJ Hospital — as regards the NCP leader’s complaint of severe pain because of the fall in the jail.

Apart from the allegations of corruption in the FIR, Deshmukh has also been charged with taking undue advantage of his post and the issues pertaining to reinstatement of Waze and the purported corruption in transfers and postings of police officers in Maharashtra.