Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh filed a fresh writ petition on Tuesday, 27 April, and approached the Bombay High Court challenging two preliminary enquiries initiated against him by the Maharashtra government.
The court sought a response from the state and pushed the hearing to 4 May.
As per the the petition, the orders dated 1 and 20 April issued by the state Home Ministry target him, stating that they deter a public officer from making “disclosures of corruption and other illegal activities of the high functionaries of the state machinery”, LiveLaw reported.
The petition reads, "The Law Commission, in its 179th report, proposed that there should be safeguards against victimisation of whistle-blowers by initiating proceedings against them on the ground of making disclosures. It is submitted that the petitioner herein is seeking the same protection against victimisation by Respondent No. 1 (state Home Department), since the enquiries have been initiated against the petitioner with clear malafide.” LiveLaw quoted.
The order dated 1 April is a state directive, that had asked Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey to initiate a preliminary probe against Singh, under the All India Services (Conduct) Rules in connection with the Ambani bomb scare case.
The other order, dated 20 April, directed Pandey to initiate an enquiry against Singh over Inspector Anup Dange’s allegations. Dange was suspended last year and recently reinstated.
The plea added that Singh had a meeting with Pandey on 19 April, during which the DGP had allegedly advised him to withdraw the letter, which levelled corruption charges and misuse of position against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
Singh, who was transferred to the Home Guards department on 17 March this year, had written a letter addressed to the government, alleging that Deshmukh met subordinate police officers, including suspended Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze, and asked for a ‘collection’ of Rs 100 crore every month.
The Bombay High Court had subsequently issued directions for the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the allegations levelled in Singh's letter on 5 April.
Singh’s fresh plea sought directions to CBI to probe the alleged “criminal conspiracy and malicious attempts to thwart” their preliminary enquiry, saying that the orders dated 1 April and 20 April were aimed at silencing and pressuring the petitioner to revoke his allegations.
On Thursday, the petition was mentioned before a division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice Manish Pitale.
Senior Counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Singh said the first order was passed by Deshmukh and the second by the present home minister, adding, “Enquiries against the petitioner are arbitrary and illegal, and the same should be set aside,” The Indian Express added.
The court on Thursday asked Singh if any show-cause notice were issued to him over the several enquiries, Rohtagi responded with a negative.
The HC said, “If no show-cause notice has been issued to Singh till date, what is the urgency and need for us to pass any interim orders at this stage? It is an enquiry of violation of some service rules. At the most it is a service matter. Let the government respond to the allegations,” The Indian Express reported.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)