CBI takes over investigation against Param Bir Singh

The CBI has taken over the investigation into five cases of alleged misconduct and corruption against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the Maharashtra Police, officials said on Wednesday.

On the directions of the Supreme Court, the Special Crime unit of the central agency registered the cases late Tuesday evening.

All the five FIRs registered in Thane and Mumbai have now been re-registered by the CBI as its own cases in accordance with its procedure, they said.

The cases pertain to various allegations including the persecution of a police inspector for not heeding to "illegal verbal instructions" of Singh, the then Thane Police Commissioner, to delete the names of some accused from a case probed by him.

He is also accused of extorting Rs nine lakh and mobile phones worth Rs 2.92 lakh in connivance with a Mumbai Police inspector from a partner in a bar, besides crores of rupees from three builders.

The Supreme Court had on March 24 transferred the investigation of these cases to the CBI on the petition of Singh, saying "a very murky affair is going on amid echelons of power".

A bench of justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh had said a thorough investigation was required to regain the faith of people in the state police.

The bench also refused to revoke the suspension of Singh and said all future FIRs too would be transferred to the CBI.

Singh was removed from the post of Mumbai Police chief over his alleged mishandling of the bomb scare case near Antilia, the palatial residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani.

He had reached the apex court seeking a CBI probe into cases slapped against him by the Maharashtra Government after the Bombay High Court had dismissed his petition seeking quashing of inquiries initiated against him.

The High Court had said he could approach the Central Administrative Tribunal, holding it was a service matter.

It had rejected his claim that the government's action was a consequence of his allegations of corruption against former state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

In his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, after he was removed from Mumbai Police Commissioner's post, Param Bir Singh had claimed that Deshmukh allegedly asked tainted Mumbai cop Sachin Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of Mumbai, they said.

"We do not want the investigation to be influenced by the observation of this court. The High Court (Bombay) has treated this as a service dispute which it is not and thus we set aside the HC verdict.

"We allow the appeal and direct the probe into 5 FIRs and three PEs be transferred to CBI with all records," the Supreme Court had said.

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