No further evidence to back graft charges against Deshmukh, Param Bir tells panel

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Deshmukh late on Monday night after questioning him for over 12 hours at its office in connection with a money laundering and corruption case against him.

In a letter addressed to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray soon after he was shunted out as the Mumbai Police Commissioner in March, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had set targets of up to Rs 100 crore for policemen to collect for him from restaurants and bars.

It was on the basis of this letter that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR after the Bombay High Court (HC) asked it to conduct an enquiry in the matter. For the ED to probe a case, an FIR has to be registered against the person concerned. The CBI FIR formed the basis of the ED investigations in the matter that subsequently led to Deshmukh’s arrest.

The Maharashtra government had also set up the commission to investigate allegations of corruption made by Singh.

Singh, through a person who has his power of attorney, submitted an affidavit on October 22 before the Chandiwal Commission probing his corruption allegations against Deshmukh, stating he does not have any further evidence to share in the matter.

Special public prosecutor in the case, Shishir Hirey, appearing for the inquiry commission,said, “Param Bir Singh has refused to give any further evidence in the case apart from the letter he had initially forwarded to the Maharashtra chief minister. He has said that the affidavits submitted by Waze and ACP Sanjay Patil were enough and he had nothing further to add to it.”

Hirey further added that Singh said he did not want to cross examine any witness or lead further evidence in connection with the corruption charges he made earlier.

Prior to this, during earlier hearings of the Chandiwal Commission, Singh through his lawyer had sought adjournments and mentioned that he had challenged the scope of the Commission before the Bombay HC. The HC dismissed his petition stating it was not maintainable and asked him to approach Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

However, Singh did not appear before the Commission which eventually led to multiple summons and a bailable warrant being issued by the panel against him. The commission further imposed fines on Singh thrice – of Rs 5,000 in June and Rs 25,000 each on two other occasions – for failing to appear before it. The CID team that was to issue the summons informed the Commission that they could not locate Singh either at his Mumbai or Chandigarh residences.

In March this year, the Maharashtra government formed the one-member commission of retired Justice Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to probe Singh’s allegations against Deshmukh. The next hearing in the case will be on November 22.

Last week, two non-bailable warrants were also issued against Singh in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district in connection with different extortion cases registered at local police stations.

Deshmukh resigned from the post of state home minister in April this year. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

Following his arrest on Monday, Deshmukh was remanded to ED’s custody till November 6.