Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte. (Express archive) FORMER ADDITIONAL chief secretary (Home) Sitaram Kunte has told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, who is being probed for money laundering, “at times” used to “hand over an unofficial list containing suggestions in respect of certain police officers/certain posts with regard to transfer and postings” of police officers, which were “usually” included in the final transfer and posting order.
Kunte in his statement to ED on December 7, last year, has said “being a subordinate, he used to receive the said list from Anil Deshmukh and as a subordinate he could not refuse to accept”. Kunte also told the central agency that at times, Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande used to “hand over such lists to him, which he used to get collected through his subordinate officer”.
Explaining the process followed by the state for transfer and postings, Kunte has told the ED that the unofficial list sent by Deshmukh was always shown to all members of the Police Establishment Board (PEB) and he used to orally inform the members that the list was sent by Deshmukh.
The ED, which is probing Deshmukh for his alleged interference in transfer and postings of police officers in Maharashtra during his tenure as the home minister, has included Kunte’s statement in its prosecution complaint filed before a court against Deshmukh.
The agency has alleged that Deshmukh, along with a “Cabinet minister from a political party”, used to prepare the unofficial list of transfers and postings. It has not named the Cabinet minister in its prosecution complaint.
According to ED, the proceedings of the PEB were “a mere formality, where the members, in spite of their reservation and protest, had to agree and sign the recommendations of the meeting that further used to be sent to competent authority – i.e. home minister and the hon’ble chief minister”.
The agency is probing one such list allegedly prepared by Deshmukh that has names of 12 police officers who have been posted across Maharashtra. The ED has
recorded the statements of these officers but the statements are not a part of its current prosecution complaint.
Deshmukh is under scanner for allegedly collecting Rs 100 crore as bribes from bar and restaurant owners in Mumbai as alleged by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh. He was arrested by the ED on November 2 on charges of money laundering. His secretary Palande, too, is currently behind bars in this case.
Param Bir Singh, in his statement to the ED, has said that in July 2020, he had issued the transfer orders of 10 DCP-rank officers in Mumbai following the due process but without consulting any political party. However, two days later, he had to cancel the order after he received a WhatsApp message from Kunte, stating that the chief minister has ordered a status quo on the order.
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