SC orders transfer of all cases against Param Bir Singh to CBI, asks Maharashtra govt to complete process within a week
Former Mumbai Police commissioner have five cases of extortion and corruption lodged against him. He had been absconding for six months before finally showing up in November last year - once on November 25 before the police and again on November 29 before a judicial commission.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation into five criminal cases lodged against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh. The case was so far being probed by Maharashtra Police but the apex court has asked them to hand over all relevant documents to the central agency within a week.
"We do not want the investigation to be influenced by the observation of this court. The high court has treated this as a service dispute, which it is not, and thus we set aside the high court verdict. We allow the appeal and direct the probe into five FIRs be transferred to CBI with all records," a bench of justices SK Kaul and MM Sundresh said.
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“We are unable to accept the contention that an FIR is registered by those who had complaints against the petitioner. We are of the view that state itself should have allowed CBI to carry the investigation,” PTI reported the bench as saying.
The top court judges further stated that the CBI must conduct an “impartial inquiry” into all aspects of the criminal cases against Singh.
Last month, Singh was given relief from the Supreme Court that was valid till March 9. The 58-year-old cop had been absconding for six months before finally showing up in November last year - once on November 25 before the police and again on November 29 before a judicial commission.
Singh is facing extortion and corruption allegations, including one related to the bomb scare near Mukesh Ambani's home - Antilia - last year. Post the incident he had written to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray claiming that former state home minister Anil Deshmukh had asked the officials to collect ₹100 crore from Mumbai businessmen.
Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on November 2 last year and his recent bail plea in the money laundering case was denied by the court last week. During the hearing, the court said the former minister was actively involved in money laundering.