Supreme Court allows CBI probe in Deshmukh case
NEW DELHI: In a setback to the Maharashtra government, the Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the decks for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of extortion against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, underscoring that “the nature of allegations and personas involved needs an inquiry by an independent agency”.
Terming the investigation “a matter of public confidence”, the bench headed by justice SK Kaul dismissed the petitions by Deshmukh and the Maharashtra government, which appealed against the Bombay high court order for a CBI probe.
The bench, which also included justice Hemant Gupta, emphasised during the hearing that the probe by an agency from outside the state was imperative since the personalities involved were the home minister of a state and a former police commissioner (Param Bir Singh).
“The two personas were closely working together till they fell apart. Both of them hold very important positions and that’s why an independent agency must inquire... it is not a case of a political or a business rivalry. It is a case between a very senior officer and a senior minister,” the bench told senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal, who represented the state government and Deshmukh, respectively.
The bench affirmed the high court order passed on Monday, which had taken note of accusations by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh that Deshmukh asked policemen, including suspended officer Sachin Vaze, to extort ₹100 crore from bars, restaurants, and other sources.
The allegations followed drama over police investigations into the discovery of an explosives-laden vehicle outside the residence of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and the alleged murder of a Mansukh Hiran who was linked to the car.
The top court also took a critical view of the fact that neither a first information report (FIR) was registered by the state police following Singh’s allegations nor did Deshmukh step down after a judicial inquiry was initiated under a retired high court judge.
“Everything happened at the time when he (Deshmukh) was the home minister. He battled it out till the high court order was passed. He didn’t even resign after the judicial inquiry was ordered. He resigned only after the high court order. This shows that he was clinging to his office,” said the bench, rejecting an argument that there was no need for an outsider agency to probe after Deshmukh has resigned.
Deshmukh had resigned on Monday, hours after the order by the high court asking CBI to conclude a preliminary inquiry within 15 days, making him the most high-profile casualty so far in the twists and turns over the discovery of the vehicle and the death of Hiran.
On Thursday, Deshmukh’s lawyer Sibal questioned the propriety of the high court order, saying he will be very happy if the Supreme Court was ready to lay down a legal principle that a CBI probe should take place in every case where allegations involved high officials even though the allegations were unsubstantiated and based on hearsay.
But the bench retorted: “We will also be very happy if we don’t come across a case where a police commissioner raises such allegations against a home minister...he was once your right hand and now he made these allegations. Let an independent agency look at it now. If you are clear, you are clear.”
On its part, the Maharashtra government argued that it has withdrawn from CBI its general consent to probe in the state, and the high court order would impact the “federal structure”.
However, the judges remained unmoved: “There is no issue of federalism here. It is a particular episode and it doesn’t happen every day. So, there is no question of federal structure. They both have been heads of important institutions where things have gone seriously wrong.”
The bench further rejected a common request by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Deshmukh and the Maharashtra government to hand over the probe to a special investigation team that could be picked by the top court.
“You cannot pick and choose the agency that should probe,” it said.
About Sibal’s objection that his client (Deshmukh) was not even heard by the high court before the order was passed, the apex court said that there was no such requirement in law to hear Deshmukh at this stage since the order was only for a preliminary inquiry.
Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi was present in the court to represent Singh but he was not required to argue since the bench passed its final order after only hearing Deshmukh and the Maharashtra government.
The CBI had on Tuesday night registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) into the episode and has also examined Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil, one of the petitioners before the high court whose plea led to the order.