'Param Bir Singh untraceable; can’t protect him from arrest': Maharashtra Govt tells HC

The Maharashtra government is willing to withdraw its May 24 statement assuring no coercive action, including arrest, against former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a 2015 case. The former top cop, who has gone missing amid recent corruption allegations, had sought quashing of an FIR filed against him in an atrocities case. In May this year, the Bombay High Court had given protection from arrest to Param Bir Singh in an FIR filed by Police Inspector Bhimrao Ghadge under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Senior advocate Darius Khambata, representing the state government, told a division bench of Justice Nitin M Jamdar and Justice Sarang V Kotwal, “In view of other developments, we are getting reports that he (Singh) is not traceable. We cannot give a statement in his matter.”

However, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Param Bir Singh, said that the state has not declared the officer as absconding yet and should continue the statement till further hearing. He noted that Singh was summoned twice in the atrocities cases and had responded both times.

What is the 2015 atrocities case against Param Bir Singh?

A total of 27 sections, including those under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, were included in the FIR based on a complaint filed by inspector Bhimrao Ghadge.  Param Bir Singh was accused of allegedly interfering in a probe on collusion between builders and Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) officials to dupe the Maharashtra government of Rs 124 crore. The inspector alleged that Param Bir Singh had ordered him to remove the names of some municipal officials and builders from the charge sheet and charged him in false cases when he did not accept the orders.

Ghadge’s FIR against Singh was registered initially by the Akola police and was later transferred to Thane police station. It eventually is being probed by the state CID.  The HC bench has said it would decide on passing orders on interim relief to Param Bir Singh at the end of the day. Meanwhile, the former Mumbai CP has been accused in five other extortion and corruption cases - including those by two bookies who accused Param Bir of extorting and deceitfully charging them in betting cases.