Special CBI court rejects ex-Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s bail plea

A special court in Mumbai rejected the bail application of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who has been under arrest for alleged corruption and misuse of official position.

Deshmukh, who is also a senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Although the Bombay High Court granted him bail on October 4 in the ED case, he was still in judicial custody for the case with the CBI.

On Friday, special CBI court judge S H Gwalani rejected the bail petition by Deshmukh, who was arrested on November 1, 2021.

The ED had launched an inquiry against Deshmukh and his associates after the CBI filed an FIR against him on April 21, 2021, on charges of corruption and misuse of official position.

According to the ED case, Rs 4.70 crore was collected from various bars in Mumbai and was laundered to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family.

The then Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who was later suspended and subsequently retired from active duty, had alleged that Deshmukh had fixed a collection target of Rs 100 crore per month for the now dismissed Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze. Vaze was an encounter specialist, attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit, and was a veteran in Crime Branch-CID, who worked under the direct command of Singh.

Vaze was also arrested in connection with planting evidence—mainly explosive gelatin sticks—in an SUV, a Mahindra Scorpio, with a note threatening Reliance Group chairman Mukesh Ambani. The SUV with explosives was found near Ambanis’ residence, Antilia, and the subsequent murder of the SUV owner Mansukh Hiran.