Bombay HC orders CBI probe into Param Bir Singh’s letter
The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to provoke a preliminary inquiry inside 15 days into the letter by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh containing allegations of corruption towards Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
In a 56-page order, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni stated, “Mr. Deshmukh is the Home Minister. The police department is under his control and direction. There can be no fair, impartial, unbiased and untainted probe, if the same were entrusted to the State police force. As of necessity, the probe has to be entrusted to an independent agency like the CBI.”
The court docket additionally that stated a probe by an unbiased company was essential to “instil public confidence and safeguard the Fundamental Rights of the citizens”. Following the excessive court docket’s course, Mr. Deshmukh submitted his resignation.
The court docket was listening to a public curiosity litigation petition filed by Mr. Singh searching for an unbiased CBI probe into his March 20 letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and a legal writ petition by advocate Jaishri Patil, filed the subsequent day, with the Malabar Hill police station and the Director ofthe Anti-Corruption Bureau of the CBI.
Dr. Patil’s grievance stated, “The letter [by Mr. Singh] should have been immediately given to the concerned police station as an FIR [First Information Report] under Section 154 (information in cognisable cases) of the Criminal Procedure Code, as a senior police officer and an offence was required to be registered but the same has not happened.” However, since nothing was performed, she filed a legal writ petition (CrWP) earlier than the excessive court docket, urging for a course to the CBI or Enforcement Directorate or any unbiased company to conduct a good investigation into the assorted alleged corrupt malpractices of Mr. Deshmukh.
Serious concern, says court docket
The court docket stated, “The jurisdictional fact for setting the criminal law in motion is traceable in the CrWP of Dr. Patil… She has brought to the notice of this Court the failure of the Senior Police Inspector, Malabar Hill Police Station, to follow the legislative mandate as in Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The issue raised by her is quite serious and we do not think that it would be prudent to refuse interference only on such ground.”
The court docket additionally stated as soon as the preliminary inquiry is accomplished, the Director, CBI, shall be at liberty to determine on the long run plan of action, additionally in accordance with the regulation. “Should the Director, CBI, see no reason to proceed further, Dr. Patil shall be duly informed of the same,” the court docket added.