Bombay HC seeks Maha govt's response to objections on its plea over CBI FIR against Anil Deshmukh

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed an advocate, on whose petition the CBI was asked to carry out an enquiry against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on corruption charges, to file an application seeking to intervene in a state government's plea challenging some parts of the FIR registered against Deshmukh.

Advocate Jayshri Patil sought to intervene in the petition and raised preliminary objections on its maintainability, arguing that the state government has no locus standi.

A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar asked Patil to file an intervening application and directed the state government to file its reply to the same, and posted the matter for further hearing on June 18.

The court said on June 18 it would also hear a petition filed by NCP leader Deshmukh, seeking to quash the FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him on April 21.

The bench said the CBI shall file its reply to Deshmukh's plea by then.

The CBI on April 21 registered the FIR against Deshmukh over charges of corruption and misuse of official position.

The NCP leader has denied the allegations against him.

The FIR was lodged after the agency conducted a preliminary enquiry against Deshmukh following an order from the high court on April 5, passed in a petition filed by Jayshri Patil.

The state government last month filed a petition seeking a direction to the CBI to set aside two paragraphs from the FIR, which, as per the government, were not relevant to the case against Deshmukh.

One of those paragraphs is about allegations levelled against Deshmukh by Sachin Waze, who has been dismissed from police service after his arrest in the case of an explovises-laden SUV found near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani.

The second paragraph pertains to alleged corruption in transfers and postings of police officials.

On Thursday, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, said the probe agency has serious objections to the state government's petition, which appears to have been filed to pre-empt the investigations being done by the CBI against Deshmukh.

Mehta said he would continue the earlier assurance given to the HC that the agency would not act upon letters sent by it to the state government, seeking documents pertaining to complaints lodged by senior IPS officer Rashmi Shukla about the alleged corruption in police postings and transfers.