Anil Deshmukh's plea seeking to quash ED summons rejected by Bombay High Court

Former Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh's petition that his summons by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case should be cancelled has been rejected by the Bombay High Court.

In his petition, Deshmukh had refuted ED claims that while serving as a minister in the MVA government, he misused his position and through dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze collected Rs 4.70 crore from various establishments. "Those who have made these allegations against me are themselves accused of heinous offences such as murder, extortion. I needn't open Pandora's box," Senior counsel Vikram Chaudhri, attacking Param Bir Singh, told the bench on behalf of Deshmukh in the last hearing on October 13, following which the order was reserved.

On April 5, a Division Bench of Chief Justice of Bombay HC Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe corruption and money laundering allegations against Deshmukh. After this, he stepped down as Maharashtra Home Minister.

Following this, a FIR was registered against him under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 120B and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The ED also issued summons to Anil Deshmukh to appear for questioning. However, the Nationalist Congress Party leader did not appear.

Allegations against Anil Deshmukh

The trouble for Deshmukh started when former Commissioner of Mumbai Param Bir Singh levelled extortion charges against him. In a letter addressed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the ex-top cop alleged that the former minister had asked sacked assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze to extort Rs 100 crore every month from bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai, 

According to an FIR filed by CBI, Deshmukh was aware that Vaze was entrusted with the most important and sensational cases of Mumbai. Moreover, it accuses him of having an influence over the transfer and posting of officials. 

Deshmukh had also moved to Supreme Court. However, the apex court bench comprising justices Krishna Murari, AM Khanwilkar and V Ramasubramanian had declined to grant him protection from any coercive action in the case. The ED has also issued a lookout notice against Deshmukh for skipping summons five times in a row.

(Image: PTI)