New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s petition demanding an “impartial and fair” CBI probe into the alleged corrupt malpractices of Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, asking him to approach the Bombay high court instead.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R.S. Reddy said there is no doubt that the matter is quite serious, but the petitioner should first approach the high court.
Singh, a 1988 batch IPS officer, had also sought quashing of the order transferring him from the post of Mumbai police commissioner, alleging it to be arbitrary and illegal.
He was transferred after the arrest of Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze, who is accused of plaing a role in the bomb scare outside the South Mumbai Antilia residence of Mukesh Ambani. Waze is also accused to have played a role in the death of businessman Manuskh Hiran.
Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had set a Rs 100-crore collection target for the police every month, an allegation that the Nationalist Congress Party leader denies. Deshmukh himself has levelled allegations against Singh.
According to LiveLaw, Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Singh, said that the allegations made by Singh are of “serious proportions” and “include the entire state administration”. He said the scandal know no bounds.
At the outset, the bench told Rohatgi that there are two preliminary questions – one is why Article 32 petition has been filed in the top court and the petitioner has not approached the high court under Article 226, and why Singh has not impleaded the state home minister as a party in his plea.
Rohatgi said that he will implead Deshmukh as a party in the matter and the application in this regard is ready.
He said that this is a serious matter which has affected the administration of the state.
The bench said the court is of the view that the petitioner should approach the high court and if he wants investigation by an independent agency, the high court can deal with this.
He also argued that under the Prakash Singh case – in which the Supreme Court established guidelines for police reforms, senior police officers cannot be transferred without completing their term of two years.
To this, the bench quipped that no state has implemented the reforms because they do not want to “let go of power”. “Whenever some particular episode erupts, people suddenly remember Prakash Singh judgment,” the bench observed, according to LiveLaw.
Rohatgi submitted that there was evidence in the form of CCTV footage, which was in the possession of ATS and that has not been handed over to the National Investigating Agency.
As interim relief, he has sought a stay of the operation of his transfer order and direction to state government, the Centre and CBI to immediately take in its custody the CCTV footage from the residence of Deshmukh.
Justice Kaul also observed that Singh and Deshmukh were “quite hunky dory for very long”. He added, “Now having fallen apart, one is making allegation against the other.”
“The petitioner is making some allegations and minister too is making allegations… We don’t see why you should not approach the High Court… We have no doubt the matter is quite serious, affecting the administration at large… liberty granted to approach HC,” the bench said, according to the Indian Express.
On Rohatgi’s submission that the high court be asked to take up Singh’s plea on Thursday, the bench said the petitioner can make this request before the high court.
(With PTI inputs)