Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh hasunleashed a barrage of allegations against Maharashtra Home Minister AnilDeshmukh in a petition in the Supreme Court, accusing him of adopting corruptpractices in posting or transfer of police officers to implicating BJP leadersin MP Mohan Delkar's suicide.
The petition said on February 22, Member of ParliamentMohan Delkar was found dead in his Mumbai hotel room, leaving behind a 15-pagesuicide note. Singh said that after initial inquiries and report, he initiatedinvestigation in the matter and sought advice from the Police Department'sLegal Cell.
"The petitioner was time and again pressurised by theMinister for Home, Government of Maharashtra to probe the role of certainleaders of BJP and somehow implicate them. It is submitted that there wastremendous pressure to give the entire episode a political angle. Thepetitioner however did not succumb to the pressure," he said in thepetition.
He further accused Deshmukh of adopting corrupt practicesin posting or transfers in police in addition with extortion of Rs 100 croreper month from various establishments.
Singh claimed that last August, Rashmi Shukla, CommissionerIntelligence, State Intelligence Department, through telephonic interceptions,brought out information about corrupt malpractices in postings or transfersadopted by Deshmukh. She brought it to the notice of Director General ofPolice, who in turn brought it to the knowledge of the Additional Chief Secretary,Home. However, Shukla was shunted out, instead of any firm action againstDeshmukh being taken.
Singh said around mid-March, he had pointed out to theMaharashtra Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and other senior leadersabout the several misdeeds and malpractices carried out by the Home Minister.He said that the wrote a letter on March 20 to the Chief Minister.
"The petitioner thus apprised the Chief Minister ofthe true picture for consideration and corrective action, being fully cognizantto the retaliation that is likely against the petitioner for placing the truepicture on record," said the petition. Later, he was transferred to fromthe post of the Police Commissioner of Mumbai to the Home Guard Department inan arbitrary and illegal manner without the completion of the minimum fixedtenure of two years.
He added that his transfer was a political move withoblique purposes and sinister motives. "It is submitted that thepetitioner was leading various important investigations and was at the cusp ofunearthing startling discoveries," he claimed in the petition.
Singh urged the Supreme Court to direct a fair CBIinvestigation into the acts of Deshmukh in abuse of his official position.
"The Government of Maharashtra has withdrawn theconsent for investigations of offences by the CBI in the State of Maharashtra.Therefore, unless directions are issued by this court, there seems nopossibility of unbiased, uninfluenced, impartial and fair investigation by theCBI in the corrupt malpractices of Anil Deshmukh, the Home Minister ofGovernment of Maharashtra, before the evidence are destroyed," his pleaadded.