The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the interim protection from arrest granted to former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh to March 24, when it will also hear the petition, seeking CBI probe into the allegations levelled against Singh.
A bench comprising Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice M.M. Sundresh will decide on March 24, whether there should be a CBI inquiry into the matter or not.
In the last hearing, the Court had advised the Maharashtra government to carry out the process of law in a special way.
“We have said earlier also that this situation is very bad. This is a very unfortunate situation and such cases weaken the faith of people in the police system,” the Bench had observed.
Last month, former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, in his statement to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), had claimed that Singh was the “mastermind” of the last year’s bomb scare near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence ‘Antilia’ in Mumbai and subsequent murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran. Deshmukh’s claim is part of the ED’s supplementary charge-sheet in a money laundering case in which the senior NCP leader and his two sons have been named as accused.
Param Bir Singh is facing at least five extortion cases in Mumbai and Thane. In March last year, he had accused then home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption. In December 2021, Singh was suspended from service.