Param Bir Singh fined Rs 25,000 by Inquiry Commission; third penalty for failure to appear

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has been slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 for not appearing before the Inquiry Commission headed by retired Justice KU Chandiwal. This is the third time that Param Bir Singh has not turned up for the inquiry. The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for August 30.

He was also charged a penalty of Rs. 25,000 by Justice KU Chandiwal for not appearing before the Inquiry Commission on August 19. That was the second time a penalty has been imposed on him. Prior to that, he was asked to pay Rs. 5000 on June 22.

Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s Advocate Anita Shekhar Castellino has requested that a warrant be issued against Param Bir Singh for his failure to appear for the inquiry. Meanwhile, tainted ex-Cop Sachin Vaze, and Sanjeev Palande were produced before the Inquiry Commission.

The Inquiry Commission was set up by the Maharashtra government after Param Bir Singh's allegations of corruption against former home minister Anil Deshmukh. On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court was also scheduled to hear Param Bir Singh's plea, however, the court has adjourned the matter until Monday.

Extortion allegations on Anil Deshmukh

Param Bir Singh accused Anil Deshmukh of asking Mumbai cop Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore per month from bars, hotels, and restaurants of Mumbai. He alleged that Deshmukh suggested the possibility of a collection of Rs 40-50 crores from such establishments. Anil Deshmukh and NCP had refuted all extortion allegations, saying that Param Bir Singh was making such allegations to save himself from the Mansukh Hiren death case which is linked to the Antilia bomb scare case.

Multiple FIRs against Param Bir Singh

Another extortion case registered against Param Bir Singh was transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch. The Mumbai Police on Friday registered yet another FIR against him, dismissed cop Sachin Vaze and others on charges of extortion. The case was filed by a businessman named Bimal Agrawal at the Goregaon Police Station.

In his complaint, Agrawal alleged that the accused extorted Rs 11.92 lakhs by threatening him of filing cases against his hotel, BOHO restaurant, and BCB bar. Goregaon police station registered a case under Sections 384, 385, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Param Bir Singh, Sachin Vaze, Sumeet Singh alias Chintu, Alpesh Patel, Vijay Singh, and Riyaz Bhati.

Agrawal claimed that suspended API Sachin Vaze contacted him last August saying Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh had asked Vaze to collect Rs 2 crores a day from restaurant and bar owners as a result of the losses he faced during the COVID pandemic.

"Huge pressure has been mounted upon me by Number-1 (Param Bir Singh), so you have to help me in collecting money from Hotels, Bars and Bookies in Mumbai, else you won't be able to run your hotel business. I handle the Mumbai Police Special Service (SS) branch, I will conduct a Raid in your hotel and file a false case against you," Agrawal quoted Sachin Vaze in his complaint.