Summoned in person, Anil Deshmukh writes to ED again: ‘Probe against me not fair’

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh has once again written to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), informing the agency that he has approached the court to ensure the money laundering probe against him is “aboveboard and within the ambit of the procedure established by law”.

In a letter to ED on Monday, Deshmukh claimed the handling of the case by the investigation agency has been non-transparent and unfair as he is yet to get a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed by ED.

“It is my basic constitutional and fundamental right as a citizen to be subjected to fair, impartial, unprejudicial, unbiased objective and transparent investigations by following the procedure established by law. In the present circumstances, there is a justifiable bonafide apprehension as well as reasons to believe that the law of the land is being circumvented and the investigations being carried out are not fair,” said Deshmukh in the letter.

The ED has issued summons to Deshmukh for the third time, asking him to appear before the agency in person on Monday.

Deshmukh in his letter has asked the ED to defer the summons for a few days and await the outcome of the case filed by him in the court. “I am expecting the listing and hearing of the petition in the next few days,” he said.

Earlier, Deshmukh had requested the ED to conduct his questioning through audio or video mode, citing his health problems and the Covid-19 pandemic. The agency declined his request, saying the accused cannot dictate the manner of conducting the probe to an investigating body.

The ED has arrested Deshmukh’s private secretary Sanjeev Palande and private assistant Kundan Shinde in connection with the case. In its remand application for the two, the agency alleged over Rs 4 crore, collected from bar owners between December 2020 and February 2021, was routed to Anil Deshmukh’s charitable trust in Nagpur through four shell companies in Delhi.

The agency probe into Deshmukh’s financial transactions is in line with the CBI probe into former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh’s allegations of corruption against the NCP leader. Deshmukh has denied the allegations.