Bombay High Court (File) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said that it was inclined to reject if not withdrawn a plea filed by dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze, who challenged two orders passed by state-appointed Justice (retired) K U Chandiwal commission, which is probing the corruption allegations against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.
Waze, who is lodged in jail in connection with Antilia terror scare case and the subsequent Mansukh Hiran murder case, has approached the HC challenging the validity of two orders of the probe panel alleging them to be “illegal” and sought to quash and set aside the same.
The first decision of the panel contains refusal of an application by Waze seeking to summon Milind Bharambe- Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) for examination. Bharambe had written a letter and then submitted a report to Maharashtra government on Waze and other police officers on March 25, last year.
Through the second impugned order, the Commission had refused to allow Waze to retract an earlier statement submitted by him against Deshmukh.
Even though Waze had initially claimed that neither Deshmukh nor his associates had ever made a demand for money nor instructed him to extort Rs 100 crore from restaurant and bar owners, a month later, he sought to retract the said statement, which was not permitted by the panel.
A division bench of Justice Gautam S Patel and Justice Madhav J Jamdar was hearing Waze’s plea.
The bench said that it was not inclined to grant any relief and that it would dismiss the plea as it also expressed displeasure over the panel’s orders not being attached with the plea.
After Waze’s lawyer sought time from court to take instructions from his client whether he would withdraw the plea and requested to post the matter on Wednesday, the bench said, “You (Waze) either withdraw the petition or we dismiss it with strictures.”
HC will hear Waze’s response to its query on Wednesday.
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