A bailable warrant has been issued against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh by the inquiry commission headed by retired Bombay high court judge, Justice Kailas Uttamchand Chandiwal, on Tuesday, for failing to appear before the probe panel in-person.
The Maharashtra government had formed the one-person commission in March to probe the allegations levelled by Param Bir Singh against former state home minister Anil Deshmukh. In a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Singh had accused Deshmukh of asking police officers in Mumbai to collect money from restaurant and bar owners.
The commission was given six months to determine if the allegations levelled by Singh needed to be investigated by the state anti-corruption bureau, if he had submitted sufficient proof to establish that Deshmukh or any staffer from his office committed any misconduct as alleged in the letter, and to offer any suggestions the commission deemed fit. Singh had filed an appeal before the Bombay high court on August 4 seeking orders to disband the commission.
In his appeal, Singh stated that since both the Supreme Court and the Bombay high court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a probe into Singh’s allegations on Deshmukh there was no need for the Chandiwal commission to continue with their inquiry.
The Chandiwal commission had issued summons to Singh multiple times but he failed to appear before it. The commission had also imposed penalties of Rs.5,000 in June and of Rs.25,000 twice last month on Singh for failing to appear before it.
Four First Information Reports (FIR) have been filed against Singh, of which two have been filed in Mumbai and two in Thane. On August 21, the fourth FIR was registered against Singh by the Mumbai police on the basis of a complaint filed by a businessman accusing Singh of extortion. A lookout notice has also been issued against Singh by the Thane police to prevent him from leaving the country.
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