The Supreme Court on Thursday asked absconding former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh to disclose his whereabouts and said that it would hear his plea for protection against arrest only after he informs which part of the country or the world he is hiding.
“Where are you… within the country or outside. First, I want to know where are you,” a bench headed by Justice SK Kaul told advocate Puneet Bali, representing Singh.
Earlier, three non-bailable warrants were issued against Param Bir Singh in three different cases.
A magistrate’s court declared the former Mumbai police commissioner a “proclaimed offender” in an extortion case registered against him. The plea was moved by the Mumbai Police to declare Singh and two others as ‘Proclaimed Offenders’ for their alleged involvement in an extortion case lodged against them.
In October 2021, the Mumbai Police had told the Bombay High Court that Singh’s whereabouts were not known and could not be traced even after the issuance of a non-bailable warrant.
In April 2021, Singh sent a ‘letter-missile’ to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging corruption by then state home minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Anil Deshmukh.
Following Singh’s letter, the Bombay High Court ordered a preliminary enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Deshmukh.
Later, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, an alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP, registered cases of alleged extortion, cheating, forgery, and set up the Chandiwal Commission to probe the charges against Param Bir Singh.
SC refuses to entertain Anil Deshmukh’s plea
The apex court today refused to entertain a plea of ex-Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, seeking direction to the investigating agencies to place the records of preliminary inquiry for court’s examination.
The top court allowed Deshmukh to raise his grievance before an appropriate court.
A Special PMLA Court on November 15 sent Anil Deshmukh to 14 days’ judicial custody. The NCP leader was arrested on November 2 in connection with a money-laundering case filed by the ED.
param Bir Sigh in his letter had alleged that Deshmukh allegedly asked sacked Mumbai Police official Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore from Mumbai hoteliers between December 2020 and February 2021.
