MUMBAI: If the Uddhav Thackeray-led government decides to initiate a departmental probe against ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, he is preparing for a long-drawn legal battle with the government.
“I have a fundamental right to approach the high court. I don’t know the government’s plan. I’m consulting my lawyers. If the government initiates a departmental probe, I will act as per the advice of my lawyers,” Singh told TOI. Singh had written to the chief minister saying home minister Anil Deshmukh has asked API Sachin Waze to mobilise Rs 100 crore per month from hotels, restaurants and bars in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, before relinquishing the charge, Deshmukh on April 1 approved a proposal for conducting a preliminary probe against Singh for breach of all-India service rules. The task of conducting the preliminary probe was entrusted to DGP Sanjay Pandey, who has been told to submit the report as early as possible. Deputy secretary (home) Kailash Gaikwad wrote a two-page letter to Pandey on the terms of reference.
Pandey will have to examine if there was dereliction of duty by Singh while controlling and supervising his subordinates. It has been stated in Gaikwad’s letter that after Waze was reinstated, he was given charge of crime intelligence unit, despite opposition of the then joint commissioner (crime) and that Waze was reporting directly to the CP.