New Delhi, February 22
The Supreme Court Tuesday directed the Maharashtra Government to put on hold the ongoing probe against former Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh over allegations of misconduct and corruption till March 9 when it will take a final call on transferring the probe to the CBI.
“We have now put down the matter for final hearing, investigation being completed can pose problems. Mr Darius Khambata, senior advocate, has assured to put their hands on hold. We take the assurance on record,” a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.
The Bench—which had earlier allowed Mumbai Police to carry on the probe against Singh but restrained them from filing charge sheets on the FIRs against him over corruption allegations—asked the parties to file their written synopses and posted Singh’s petition for final hearing on March 9.
Singh – who created a political storm by accusing the then Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption – has sought a CBI probe into the entire issue involving him. He has moved the top court challenging the September 16, 2021 Bombay High Court order dismissing his petition against two preliminary inquiries initiated against him by the Maharashtra Government.
Expressing concern over the “messy state of affairs” in Maharashtra, the top court said this was an unfortunate scenario having “the propensity of unnecessarily shaking confidence of people in the police system”.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, submitted that it’s in the interest of things that all cases herein be investigated by the central probe agency. “Once you proceed with an investigation and record it then it’s not fair to stop midway. State should not do anything that makes the process difficult,” he said.
The Bench had earlier allowed Mumbai Police to carry on the probe against Singh but restrained it from filing charge sheets on the FIRs against him over the allegations of misconduct and corruption. On November 22 last year, it directed the Maharashtra Police not to arrest him in criminal cases lodged against him.
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