Param Bir Singh gets protection from arrest, Supreme Court asks him to join probe

The Supreme Court on Monday granted protection from arrest to ex Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh in six cases lodged against him after he made sensational charges of Rs 100 Cr extortion against then Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M Sundresh, however, ordered him to join the investigation, as his counsel submitted he was very much in the country and can appear before the investigating agency within 48 hours.

The top court also took on record his charges against present Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey "who advised him not to fight against the system and in effect withdraw the letter sent to the Chief Minister making complaints against the Home Minister, as otherwise the consequences could be varied".

Also read — Param Bir Singh very much in country, advocate tells Supreme Court

"We do find the picture very disturbing. An earlier Commissioner seems to show lack of faith in the police! We wonder what would happen to the common man and what kind of faith would they have in the police. The matter has become curiouser and curiouser in the battle between the then Home Minister and the then Police Commissioner," the bench said, in its written order.

The court issued notice to the Centre and the Maharashtra government on his plea for CBI probe into the "complete affairs".

It fixed the matter for consideration on December 6.

Singh's counsel senior advocate Puneet Bali submitted that the senior most police officer was being hounded after he wrote a letter to about extortion charges against Deshmukh.

He said six cases were lodged against him by "extortionists and bookies" against whom he had taken action in 2015, and 2016.

The counsel also informed the court Singh was very much in the country and can join the probe within 48 hours.

He questioned the September 16 order of the Bombay High Court, which directed him to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal, though it did not have any power to order the CBI probe.

The court agreed prima facie, it may not be the appropriate course of action, as the stand of Maharashtra government and the CBI was not known to his plea.

The counsel also said this court itself had entrusted the matter to the CBI with regard to Deshmukh, who was the then Home Minister. Therefore, it is the CBI which should investigate into the complete affairs and not the State police, he added.

On November 18, the top court had refused to consider Singh's plea for protection, saying no hearing and any relief can be granted to him till he disclosed his whereabouts.

A local court had on November 17 accepted the Mumbai Police's application to declare Singh as a proclaimed offender.

An officer of the 1988-batch of the Indian Police Service, Singh last served as the Commandant General of Home Guards.

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