Law Minister slams 'Maha Aghadi for loot'; questions Maharashtra CM, Sharad Pawar on Vaze

After ex-Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh in his letter addressed to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray levelled explosive 'Extortion' allegations against Maharashtra's Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while speaking at a press conference in Bihar's Patna on Sunday said that it is a very "serious matter". The Union Law Minister said that this letter has created shockwaves in the country.

Ravi Shankar Prasad speaks on Param Bir's letter

Pointing towards the fact that Sachin Vaze was earlier suspended and then appointed again after many years during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "The BJP asks that under whose pressure Sachin Vaze was reinstated, was it Shiv Sena, Maharashtra CM or NCP chief Sharad Pawar?" When asked to comment on Param Bir's letter, the Union Minister said that both Shiv Sena and NCP have defended Sachin Vaze's appointment. "The policeman whose record is highly suspicious and is also a Shiv Sena member, why was he reinstated?"

Questioning the role of the NCP supremo, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "What is the role of Sharad Pawar? Param Bir said that he briefed Sharad Pawar as well? In what capacity did he brief Pawar, who is not a part of the government and even after the briefing, what action did Sharad Pawar take on this? Pawar's silence raises a lot of questions."

Shifting his attention to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the Law Minister said that even the CM's silence raises a lot of questions. Stating that the Maharashtra CM has also supported Sachin Vaze inside and outside the assembly, he said, "The position of Vaze is API and he is defended by CM and HM of the state is asking him to extort 100 crores every month." He said that BJP is demanding an honest, transparent and fair investigation by the outside body. 

Ravi Shankar Prasad during his press conference further said that the saffron party would like to know what more dirty work was sought to be done through Sachin Vazee. He said, "In my whole political career, I have been for the first time that a Chief Minister is defending an API. what was the compulsion to defend Sachin Vaze? What are the secrets that are locked in the stomach of Vaze?"

Asserting that the conspiracy behind Param Bir's letter is widespread, Prasad said that if 100 crore was the target from Mumbai then Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray should disclose the target of whole Maharashtra. "If this is the target by the state's Home Minister then what was the target by another minister? It is a loot operation, " he added. 

Stating that Uddhav Thackeray's government has lost the moral authority to run a state government even for a day, the Union Minister said that the BJP will raise this issue and it takes it up to the streets. It's not a Maha Agadhi for development rather it's a Maha Aghadi for loot," he added. 

What allegations has Param Bir levelled against Maharashtra HM Deshmukh?

In his 8-page letter to CM Thackeray, Param Bir Singh has refuted Deshmukh's statements that his transfer was due to 'serious lapses in the investigation', the 'serious lapses are not pardonable', and that his transfer was 'not on administrative grounds'. Further in his letter, the ex-Mumbai CP has alleged that Sachin Vaze before his arrest was summoned by Maharashtra Home Minister at his residence several times in connection to the target of accumulating Rs 100 crore in a month, half from 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai, and remaining from other sources. 

Singh in the letter also claimed that there was no evidence against him and invited him to check the call records of Sachin Vaze if need be. However, reacting to this letter, HM Anil Deshmukh on Saturday refuted all "Extortion" allegations made by Param Bir. Taking to Twitter, he had said that the involvement of Param Bir Singh and Sachin Vaze in the Mansukh Hiren case seems likely', and hence he was making such allegations to save himself.

He further said that Param Bir Singh has been transferred to Maharashtra (Home Guards) after ex-Mumbai API Sachin Vaze's arrest in the Antilia bomb scare case. Subsequent to this, Deshmukh has said he'll file a defamation suit against Param Bir Singh and has demanded his suspension while speaking to NCP party supremo Sharad Pawar.