Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh will likely walk out of jail on Wednesday as the Bombay High Court refused to extend his stay on bail in a corruption case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The NCP welcomed the court’s decision on Tuesday.
In a statement, NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said, “It has been proved that Anil Deshmukh was wrongly accused in a false case and he will be released from jail tomorrow (Wednesday) after spending more than one year behind bars. We will take his case to the people and make them aware of the injustice done to him.”
Deshmukh, 73, has been in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail since November 2021 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in an alleged money laundering case. He has always denied the charges levelled against him. Justice M S Karnik had granted bail to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader on December 12 but stayed the order for ten days as the CBI sought time to challenge it in the Supreme Court.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged in March 2021 that Deshmukh, then the Home Minister, had given policemen a target of collecting Rs 100 million a month from restaurants and bars in Mumbai. Similar allegations have been made by former assistant police inspector Waze, who was arrested last year in the case of a vehicle carrying explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in Mumbai.
The High Court in April 2021 ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary investigation. Based on this investigation, the CBI registered an FIR against Deshmukh and others for alleged corruption and misuse of official powers.
On Tuesday, the central agency sought another extension. Deshmukh’s lawyers Aniket Nikam and Inderpal Singh argued that the CBI was trying to “transcend” an earlier HC order that said no further extension would be granted under any circumstances.” They fail to discern any urgency at the Supreme Court and are here to stay.” This cannot be allowed,” argued Nikam.
After hearing the arguments, the vacation bench of the Supreme Court said, “no further extension can be granted”. As the court refused to extend the stay, Deshmukh could be released on bail on Wednesday, his lawyers told.
While granting bail to Deshmukh, the Supreme Court noted that apart from the statement of sacked police officer Sachin Waze, no testimony recorded by the CBI suggested that money was extorted from Mumbai bar owners at the behest of the NCP leader.
Deshmukh approached the apex court after a special CBI court rejected his bail plea last month. He applied for bail both on health grounds and on the merits of the case. In April this year, the CBI arrested him in a corruption case. In October, the high court granted him bail in the ED case.
The investigating agency has moved the high court, but the appeal will not be heard until January 2023 as the court is closed for vacation.
