Mumbai: The Maharashtra Government will hold two inquiries against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh by a three-member committee headed by a senior IAS officer after acting Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey decided to recuse himself. Pandey’s move came days after Singh alleged that the former had allegedly offered to mediate between him and the state government.
Singh had called Pandey and recorded the conversation in which Pandey had allegedly made his offer. He had attached the transcript of the conversation with Pandey in his petition filed last week in the Bombay High Court against the government’s decision to hold two probes against him.
A senior home department officer told The Free Press Journal, “The decision to conduct these inquiries by a committee led by a senior IAS officer was taken at the meeting on Monday. It is important as the High Court has slated the hearing on Singh’s petition on May 4. The government will defend its decision in the high court and continue these inquiries against Singh.” He said the state government had roped in former Advocate General Darius Khambata to argue on its behalf, as Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni could not make it, having recently lost his father.
The government had directed Pandey to hold two inquiries against Singh, of which one was ordered on April 1 under service rules and another on April 20, after the corruption charges levelled by a police inspector.
The April 1 order was passed by the former home minister, Anil Deshmukh, for alleged violation of some All India Services (Conduct Rules) and the second order of April 20 was passed by Deshmukh’s successor Dilip Walse Patil over allegations of corruption levelled against Singh.
Singh’s lawyer Mukul Rohatgi has argued that orders passed by the government initiating preliminary enquiry against Singh were “manifestly arbitrary, wholly illegal, null and void”.