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Where in the world is Param Bir Singh: Supreme Court
Singh (56), the second most senior Indian Police Service (IPS) serving officer in Maharashtra, was declared a proclaimed offender by a Mumbai court on Wednesday after he remained elusive since March this year and did not show up before the trial court despite several notices and warrants issued against him.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh to disclose his whereabouts while making it clear that the court would not entertain his petition for protection against arrest in an alleged extortion case until his location is known.
Singh (56), the second most senior Indian Police Service (IPS) serving officer in Maharashtra, was declared a proclaimed offender by a Mumbai court on Wednesday after he remained elusive since March this year and did not show up before the trial court despite several notices and warrants issued against him.
Taking up his petition, a top court bench, headed by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, was emphatic that Singh’s petition could be considered only after he comes clear on his whereabouts. It also noted that Singh’s petition in the top court, filed in September against the Bombay high court’s refusal to give him pre-arrest bail, was moved through a power of attorney holder and did not carry his signature.
“Your petition has been filed by your power of attorney holder. Where are you? Are you in the country or outside the country? We could be wrong but if you are somewhere abroad and waiting for Supreme Court orders, how can we give it?” the bench, which also comprised justice MM Sundresh, asked senior advocate Puneet Bali, who appeared for Singh.
Bali said that the counsel who filed the petition could answer the court’s poser but the filing lawyer, Natasha Vinayak, could only answer that the petition has been filed through Singh’s power of attorney holder and that she would have to check about Singh’s whereabouts.
On his part, Bali said: “If I (Singh) am allowed to breathe, I can get out of the hole.”
Dissatisfied with the response, the bench replied: “You are seeking a protection order but you have not joined any investigation. If you are sitting abroad and approaching the court...if the court gives a favourable order, then only you will come back. We cannot pass an order here while you are in a foreign country.”
“No protection, no hearing till we have the answer to the question -- where are you?” emphasised the bench, refusing to hear Singh’s lawyer until the former Mumbai Police chief’s location is disclosed.
Bali and Vinayak sought for time till Monday to come back with the answer to the court’s query. The case was then adjourned for Monday next week.
The bench was hearing a plea against a September 16 judgment of the Bombay high court which had dismissed the petition filed by Singh challenging two preliminary inquiries initiated against him by the Maharashtra government.
As he remained absconding for several weeks, Mumbai’s additional chief metropolitan magistrate court declared Singh a proclaimed offender on Wednesday, allowing an application filed by Mumbai Police’s crime branch. The crime branch is investigating an August 20 extortion case registered in Goregaon in northwest Mumbai. The FIR named Singh, dismissed assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze and civilians — Sumeet Singh, Alpesh Patel, Vinay Ramnarayan Singh aka Bablu and Riyaz Bhati — for extortion.
The complainant, restaurateur Bimal Agarwal, alleged that the accused extorted ₹11.92 lakh from him by threatening to register cases against two of his outlets – Boho Restaurant and BCB Bar. Once it took over the investigation, the crime branch arrested Vaze, Sumeet Singh and Alpesh Patel.
No SIT, no CBI’s inquiry report for Anil Deshmukh: SC
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, seeking a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to produce its inquiry reports relating to the corruption case filed against him.
“Should we entertain this petition just because this person has been a minister? There has to be something extraordinary warranting an interference by this court in an ongoing investigation,” the bench, led by justice Kaul, told senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Deshmukh.
Sibal argued that Deshmukh’s only remedy was before the apex court since CBI in April informed the bench that the preliminary investigation has disclosed commission of serious offences against Deshmukh in the corruption case. The senior counsel referred to recent media reports that claimed a clean chit to Deskhmukh in this case.
The bench, however, asked Sibal if media reports alone could be relied upon by the court to entertain a petition. It dismissed Deshmukh’s petition, asking him to approach a court of competent jurisdiction.
During the hearing, Sibal also complained that the court, while refusing to entertain Deshmukh’s petition against CBI’s preliminary investigation in April, cited former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s allegations but the senior police officer was now absconding.
“It is unfortunate that people occupying important positions show no confidence in the system,” retorted the bench.
Deshmukh has been in jail since November 2 after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), almost six months after the agency first registered a case against him for obtaining illegal gratification from bar owners in Mumbai when the minister was in office.
In his petition before the Supreme Court, Deshmukh also asked for constitution of a special investigation team (SIT) for a “fair and independent” probe into corruption and bribery charges against him.
