Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 22: A full-fledged political war has broken out between the three-party Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and the opposition BJP after the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar ruled out resignation “at this stage” by the home minister Anil Deshmukh claiming that the former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s allegations of extortions against him was “misplaced” aimed at only diverting attention from the industrialist Mukesh Ambani explosive scare case.
It was on his alleged failure to handle the Ambani bomb scare case that Singh was transferred from the most lucrative post to an insignificant posting in the home guards.
Pawar’s justifications for the continuance of Deshmukh in the office on his being in hospital or home quarantine for Covid-19 on the dates Singh had cited the home minister to have directed his two junior police officers to extort Rs 100 crores per month from restaurants, bars and other sources, was immediately challenged by the BJP who claimed that Pawar had been “misinformed” about the dates Singh had cited which clearly were after Deshmukh had returned to routine office works before or after his home quarantine.
The BJP also accused Pawar of trying to mislead the people and protect a “corrupt” home minister and a government that had lost all moral authority to stay in power. A rattled Pawar, however, maintained that the information he had justified Deshmukh continuing in office till an impartial inquiry into Singh’s charges were over, and abruptly ended the media conference he was holding at his residence in Delhi.
Even as the MVA leader Shiv Sena accused the former police commissioner to be a “tool” in the hands of the BJP, Singh moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the Maharashtra government order transferring him to the Home Guard Department and also sought a CBI probe into alleged corrupt malpractices of Deshmukh “before evidence is destroyed”.
A 1988-batch IPS officer, Singh, in his plea repeated the graft charges he made against Deshmukh in an earlier letter of his to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and also accused him of interfering in investigations, pressurising him to implicate BJP leaders in the case of death of MP Mohan Delkar, and of indulging in “corrupt malpractices” in transfers and postings in the Home Department.
In his petition, he also asked the court to order that all CCTV footage from Deshmukh’s Mumbai home be taken into custody.
Addressing the media amid a political storm over Singh’s corruption allegations, Pawar said on Monday that he was “absolutely clear that allegations made against Deshmukh are incorrect.” Pawar claimed Deshmukh was in hospital from February 5 to 15 and from February 15 to 27, he was in home isolation in Nagpur. Deshmukh had contracted Covid last month.
“We will share all these records with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The question of resignation does not arise now,” added Pawar.
In his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray sent last week, Singh had alleged that the minister had appointed several of his officers – including Sachin Vaze who has been arrested in the Mukesh Ambani explosives case – for running an extortion racket. Their meeting had taken place in February, he said.
But his letter also mentioned another meeting between Deshmukh and others, including Additional Commissioner of Police Sanjay Patil and Deputy Commissioner of Police Bhujbal, where collection from hookah parlours was discussed. That meeting took at his official Mumbai residence on March 4, the letter said.
The state’s opposition BJP pounced on the mismatch of dates.
The BJP’s Amit Malviya tweeted: “Sharad Pawar claims Anil Deshmukh was in hospital from 5-15 Feb and in quarantine from 16-27 Feb. But Anil Deshmukh was holding a press conference on 15 Feb…
How lies fall flat!”
“It seems Sharad Pawar- ji is not briefed properly on Param Bir Singh letter. In this letter only, the SMS evidence shows that the meeting date was mentioned as end of February. Now who is diverting issue?” the BJP’s former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
At the media conference Pawar had said: “The important issue is the Ambani bomb scare case. After the arrests made by the Anti-Terror Squad, it is now clear who killed Hirani. During the investigation it will be revealed why did these two kill Mansukh Hirani… on whose behalf” apparently implicating Singh.
“The Mumbai ATS is probing is in the right direction. Now to divert that, vague allegations have been levelled by Param Bir Singh,” he added.
Thane businessman Mansukh Hirani is said to have owned the explosive-filled SUV found on Mumbai’s Carmichael Road, close to Mukesh Ambani’s house. The auto parts dealer had reported the vehicle as stolen a week before it was found.
According to the National Investigating Agency (NIA), which has taken over both the Mukesh Ambani explosive and the Hirani murder case, police officer Sachin Vaze was closely associated with Mansukh Hirani. Vaze was initially in charge of the Ambani bomb scare case investigation, was later arrested in the case after the NIA took over the investigation at the behest of the central government.
In his writ petition, Singh accused Deshmukh of interfering in various investigations and instructing the police officers to conduct probes in a particular manner as desired by him.
“The petitioner has invoked writ jurisdiction of this Hon’ble Court to seek unbiased, uninfluenced, impartial and fair investigation in the corrupt malpractices of Shri Anil Deshmukh, the Hon’ble Home Minister of Government of Maharashtra, before the evidences are destroyed,” stated the plea, filed through advocate Abhinay.
It added: “The petitioner submits that said Shri Anil Deshmukh had been holding meetings in February, 2021, at his residence with police officers, including Shri Sachin Vaze of Crime Intelligence Unit, Mumbai, and Shri Sanjay Patil, ACP Social Service Branch, Mumbai, bypassing their seniors and had instructed them that he had a target to accumulate ₹100 crore every month and had directed to collect money from various establishments and other sources.”
Singh claimed that he “brought” Deshmukh’s “corrupt practices…in the knowledge of the senior leaders and the…Chief Minister of…Maharashtra” but “immediately thereafter, on 17.03.2021”, an order was issued transferring him from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner to the Home Guard Department “in an arbitrary and illegal manner without the completion of the minimum fixed tenure of two years”.
Calling his transfer a malicious move, Singh contended that
“The transfer of the petitioner in the aforesaid circumstances is for reasons smeared with malice, when there is no iota of material or evidence – far from proof – found or even imputed against the petitioner, and is solely based on conjectures, surmises and pure speculation, without detail of any sort against the petitioner having been noticed by anybody.”
Singh said he was constrained to write a letter to the chief minister on March 22 regarding Deshmukh’s conduct after his transfer, followed by adverse media publicity by the minister, in violation of his right to reputation, dignity, equality and liberty.
The NCP – one of the constituents of the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – has backed Deshmukh in the wake of allegations from Singh. After a meeting held at Pawar’s residence in Delhi on Sunday, the party said Deshmukh won’t resign.
Refuting the BJP charge, Deshmukh also defended himself saying he was in home quarantine in February and stepped out for the first time on February 28. “A few journalists were waiting for me at the hospital gate after I got discharged on 15th February. I was feeling low and weak so I sat on the chair there and responded to their questions. Then I went straight to my car and went home. I was in home quarantine from February 15th to 27th. I stepped out of my house for the first time on February 28th,” he said.
The Shiv Sena, who leads the MVA, alleged that Param Bir Singh is a puppet of BJP government at the Centre. It also demanded probe into allegations against Singh by his subordinate officer.
“Param Bir Singh himself is embroiled in corruption. On February 2, 2021, Anup Dange, an officer of Gamdevi Police station, wrote to Additional CS Home department complaining how Singh harassed Dange through Bharat Shah and Jitendra Navlani, who are connected to underworld,” claimed Sena leader Vinayak Raut.
Dange had taken action against a pub but Param Bir Singh called him at 2am and asked him not to file a case, he further alleged.
Questioning the timing of the allegations of corruption against Deshmukh by Singh, Pawar said “If you see the former Commissioner’s letter, he mentions that in mid-February he was informed by certain officers that they got such and such instructions from Home Minister…From 6th-16th February, Deshmukh was admitted in the hospital because of Corona. It is clear that during the period about which the allegations were made, Anil Deshmukh was hospitalised. As this is clear, such demands for his resignation hold no power,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Sena said the MVA government enjoyed “good majority” and it would not fall because of “one official” even as it admitted that ex-Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh’s allegations of corruption against state Home Minister have maligned the image of the latter’s department.
In the editorial in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the party said a fire would erupt if the BJP tried to undermine the majority enjoyed by the MVA government.
“It seems to be the goal of the BJP to impose President’s rule in Maharashtra by contending that law and order situation is not right. For this, new pawns are being created. It is clear, Singh is being used in that manner,” it said.
Singh, whose suspension the BJP was seeking over the bomb scare outside Ambani’s residence, has now become a “darling” of the opposition party which is now targeting the government by keeping the gun on his shoulder, the edit said.