SC junks CBI appeal against Bombay HC bail to Maharashtra former home minister Deshmukh in graft case

NEW DELHI: It took only a few seconds for the Supreme Court to decide the CBI plea against bail granted to Maharashtra former home minister Anil Deshmukh in a corruption case and even the lawyers did not have to argue the case, with the top court summarily dismissing the appeal of the agency against Bombay high court’s bail order. Noting that the top court in October last year passed order refusing to interfere with the Bombay high court’s order granting bail to Deshmukh in a money laundering case, a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices V Ramasubramanian and J B Pardiwala said that it also did not intend to interfere with high court order in CBI case.
Though solicitor general Tushar Mehta contended that charges against the former minister were very serious but with the bench indicating that it would not interfere with the HC order, the law officer did not press and the court passed the order.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Deshmukh, did not even have to open the file to argue the case and said that the apex court’s order was both “short and sweet”. The CBI approached the court in December against HC order granting bail to Deshmukh.