CBI registers case against NCP's Anil Deshmukh; carries out searches at his residence

In a breaking development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in relation to the 'extortion' charges levelled against him by ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, sources informed on Saturday. As per sources, Anil Deshmukh has been named in the CBI's FIR along with unknown persons while searches were being carried out at the NCP leader's residence on Saturday morning. Anil Deshmukh was earlier summoned by the CBI on April 14 and was grilled by two SP-rank officers prior to which two of his aides were questioned by the central agency in relation to the corruption allegations leveled on him by Param Bir Singh in his 8-page letter. 

Earlier, the CBI recorded statements of e-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh and suspended API Sachin Vaze. and was also granted access to the suspended API's 'extortion diary'. As per sources, Param Bir Singh reiterated his 'extortion' charge against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh while he recorded his statement with the CBI on Thursday and submitted the messages he received from ACP Patil. Sources added that Param Bir Singh also submitted a few documents and the details of key meetings. Previously, a team of CBI officers had also recorded complainant Jaishri Patil's statement. Meanwhile, former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma was also summoned by the NIA on Thursday after suspended API Sachin Vaze allegedly named him in his confession. The former cop & Shiv Sena leader was questioned for over seven-and-a-half fours on Wednesday following which he was once again summoned on Thursday. 

SC upholds HC order for CBI enquiry

The Supreme Court refused to provide relief to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday and maintained that it would not interfere with the High Court order directing a CBI probe. Anil Deshmukh had filed a plea at the apex court challenging the Bombay HC's order while also questioning the credentials of the central agency to probe into the allegations levelled against him by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. The Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices SK Kaul and Hemant Gupta heard the matter on Thursday. 

Anil Deshmukh under the scanner

The controversy came to the fore on February 20 when Param Bir Singh levelled serious 'extortion' charges against Anil Deshmukh. In a letter addressed to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Singh refuted Deshmukh's remarks that his transfer was due to serious lapses in the Antilia bomb scare case. Moreover, he alleged that the NCP leader had asked Sachin Vaze to extort Rs.100 crore per month from 1750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai.

On April 8, the Supreme Court bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Hemant Gupta heard the appeals of Deshmukh and the Maharashtra government against the Bombay HC order directing a Preliminary Enquiry by the CBI. During the course of the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that the High Court heard the arguments of the Advocate General on maintainability without giving the chance to the state government to file a counter. Representing Deshmukh, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal lamented that his client was not heard and stressed that Singh's claims had no evidentiary value.

Backing the need for a CBI probe in its order, the court noted, "De hors the niceties of an elaborate order passed by the High Court, we are of the view that the nature of allegations, the personas involved and the seriousness of the allegations do require an independent agency to enquire into the matter. It is a matter of public confidence given the factual scenario. We may also add that what has been directed is only a preliminary enquiry albeit by an independent agency."