Deshmukh moves HC to get ED summons quashed

MUMBAI: Former home minister Anil Deshmukh filed an application in the Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday seeking to quash summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in their investigation on alleged financial irregularities by Deshmukh while he was in office.

When the application came up for hearing before the single judge bench of Justice Revati Mohite-Dere, the judge recused herself and directed Deshmukh’s counsel to approach an alternate bench to get a hearing scheduled. The judge did not elaborate on her reasons for recusal.

“The

application

is

filed challenging the summons issued by the ED and it will be heard in due course,” said advocate Aniket Nikam for Deshmukh adding that the matter was yet to be listed before an alternate bench.

ED’s investigation pertains to a sum of ₹4.7 crore that Deshmukh allegedly received in cash from restaurant and bar owners through former assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze, who is currently in police custody in another case.

According to ED, the amount received through Vaze was laundered through Shri Sai Shikshan Sanstha, an education trust run by Deshmukh and his son Hrishikesh.

The ED has issued five summons to Deshmukh since it began investigations in May, but Deshmukh – who resigned on April 5 – has only responded to them through his lawyer. Deshmukh offered to record his statement over video conferencing. The last summons was issued on August 17.

ED arrested Deshmukh’s private secretary Sanjeev Palande and private assistant Kundan Shinde in June.

The probe into financial transactions was initiated after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a first information report (FIR) against Deshmukh on April 21, based on the allegations of corruption made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in March. CBI was directed by the Bombay HC to conduct investigations after a group of public minded petitioners approached the court seeking action over Singh’s letter.

Apart from seeking quashing of the summons and being permitted to appear before ED through video conferencing, Deshmukh has also sought constitution of a special investigation team consisting of officers from outside Mumbai which will monitor the probe by the Mumbai zonal ED office.

Palande also moved HC on

August 6 for quashing of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) registered by the ED against him.

Meanwhile, CBI has registered a fresh FIR after contents of preliminary enquiry report appeared in certain sections of the media and has arrested its own sub-inspector Abhishek Tiwari and Nagpur based lawyer, advocate Anand Daga, a member of Deshmukh’s legal team.

While Tiwari is suspected of having accepted illegal gratification for leaking of the report, the lawyer is accused of trying to subvert the enquiry by influencing some CBI officers.