Anil Deshmukh
Charges against Maharashtra Home Minister to be investigated by retired judge
Mumbai/IBNS: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has said the corruption charges pressed against him by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh will be investigated by a retired judge.
Deshmukh, who is a leader of Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking an inquiry into the allegations that shook the political and administrative circles of Maharashtra and raised questions about the coalition government of the state.
On March 20, sacked Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had accused Deskhmukh of running an extortion racket whereby he tried to collect Rs 100 crore a month, using police officials to achieve this target.
Singh was removed from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner after Deshmukh said "unforgivable" lapses had been revealed in the Mukesh Ambani security scare investigation under him.
Deshmukh rejected the allegations and threatened to file a defamation case against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday ruled out the possibility of removing Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, saying that the minister was in hospital during the period referred by the ex-Mumbai top cop in a letter. Deshmukh was in hospital from Feb 5 to 15 and from Feb 15 to 27, he was in home isolation in Nagpur, Pawar said, calling for a probe into Param Bir Singh's allegations, he added.
Pawar said the allegations against Deshmukh were aimed at diverting the investigation into the explosive-laden vehicle found near Mukesh Ambani's residence.
However, BJP-led by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena intensified demands for Deshmukh's resignation.
Fadnavis along with a BJP delegation also met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari asking him to seek a report from Uddhav Thackeray on the issue.
"Maharashtra Chief Minister has decided that the allegations levelled against me by former Mumbai Police Commissioner will be probed by a retired high court judge," Anil Deshmukh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI today.
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