Parties in case were ‘hunky dory,’ says SC on Param Bir Singh plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Param Bir Singh to approach the Bombay high court. Referring to allegations levelled by the cop and the minister against each other, an SC bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R Subhash Reddy said it seems that parties in the case were “hunky dory” for a long time, but they started making allegations and counter-allegations as a consequence of their falling out.
Singh has accused Deshmukh of asking disgraced encounter cop Sachin Waze, currently in NIA custody, to raise Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai.
“We have no doubt that the matter is quite serious and affects the administration at large. It also appears that a lot of material which has come in public domain is a consequence of the personas falling out,” the court said.
The bench asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi why his client approached the apex court directly and suggested that Singh knock at the doors of the Bombay high court. The court also pointed out that the minister against whom allegations had been levelled was not made a party. Rohatgi replied it was a mistake and said he is willing to forthwith implead Anil Deshmukh as respondent.
“If investigation by an independent agency is being sought for, that is a relief which can also be granted by the high court. There have also been subsequent developments in the matter, as has been noticed in terms of the report of Ms Rashmi Shukla, commissioner, state intelligence department. The high court has the requisite authority to address the same,” the bench said. Rohatgi thereafter agreed to withdraw the petition and told the court that he will file it in the HC.
As the petitioner referred to the apex court’s verdict on police reforms to impress upon the court to intervene to protect him, the bench expressed concern that its verdict had not been followed by states and the issue always cropped up when a controversy, like the present one, erupted in the public glare.
“In our view, this is only a mantra recited periodically, wherever the occasion so suits, and there has been no seriousness by all concerned to ever implement the directions enshrined in the judgment. These directions were based on the principle of insulating police machinery from political/executive interference to make it more efficient and to strengthen the rule of law. It appears that none want to give up, inter alia, the control of police transfers or implement measures that would insulate the police machinery from performing its role without any uncalled for interference,” the bench said in its order.
Singh, a 1988 batch IPS officer, sought a comprehensive CBI probe into the home minister’s numerous acts of alleged corruption and criminality. He also claimed he was transferred out immediately after he briefed CM Uddhav Thackeray about Deshmukh’s alleged activities.
Singh challenged Deshmukh on his statement to media that he was transferred to facilitate a fair probe into the explosives-laden vehicle found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia. He said it was a red herring as there was not even a murmur that he had impeded the probe into the sensational incident.