Can Mumbai Police officers behind reinstating Waze claim impunity: HC to CBI

The Bombay High Court has asked if Mumbai Police officers who were behind the reinstatement of former assistant police inspector Sachin Waze in the service could claim impunity on the ground that they were unaware of his past records and antecedentsA bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar said that if one were to get into the root of the allegations of corruption made against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh one would prima facie see that Waze had been collecting the extortion money that Deshmukh allegedly asked him to However who was behind reinstating Waze into the city police force the bench asked Can they say they didnt know about his past the bench askedThe bench posed the question to the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI conducting an inquiry against Deshmukh following allegations of corruption levelled against him by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh The bench said it was saying at the cost of repetition that the CBI must not exclude any guilty party out of its probeAt the cost of repeating we are saying that the investigation must be against all involved The normal way is that as long as things are going well no one says anything Once a transfer happens all sorts of allegations are made the bench said If we get into the root of this matter Waze was collecting money So who was behind his reinstatement Can someone now say that he was not aware of Wazes past his record etc while reinstating him That is why we are saying again and again that this episode was not a oneman thing The crux of the HC order directing a preliminary inquiry into the allegations is to instil public confidence the HC saidThe high courts observations came while it was hearing a plea filed by Deshmukh seeking that the FIR registered by the CBI against him be quashed He had denied the allegations against him Deshmukhs counsel senior advocate Amit Desai had said that the CBI probe was illegal since the agency had failed to take prior sanction to prosecute Deshmukh who was at the time a public servantAppearing for the CBI Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi told the high court that no sanction was required as Deshmukh hadnt been discharging his official duties by indulging in corruption and misconduct Lekhi said the CBI probe didnt warrant any interference from the courtThe home minister Deshmukh gave a target to collect money to Waze Its not a ministers job to give targets to police officers This case is of maladministration and misgovernance Lekhi said The minister was asking officers to conduct financial deals not mandated by the statute This was outside of the realm of what a minister can do A ministers work cant be lacking in legitimacy and be illicit Since it was so in this case such acts cant be said to have been performed in the discharge of his official duties he saidBesides the provision to seek prior sanction under the Prevention of Corruption Act was not meant to protect wrongdoers Lekhi said He further said that no one was outside the purview of the CBIs probe The HC then asked what prevented the seniormost police officer in the state ParamBir Singh from initiating an inquiry against Deshmukh as soon as he got to know of the former ministers alleged misconductAlso ReadAnil Deshmukh case CBI records statement of Sachin Waze in prisonWas is not the duty of the then CP to have registered an FIR Was it then not the duty of the top police officer to immediately register a case We expect a practical investigation against all parties involved Why was the highest officer not investigating when informed He could himself have registered the FIR it saidThe court also asked the CBI for a copy of its probe report in the case It said it will return the report in a sealed envelope to the central agency after going through the sameThe HC closed all arguments on Deshmukhs plea on Monday and reserved its verdict on the same Waze was reinstated last June after being under suspension for over 16 years for his alleged role in the Khwaja Yunus custodial death case In April this year a bench led by Bombay HC chief justice Dipankar Datta had directed the CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry against Deshmukh based on a complaint lodged at the Malabar Hill police station in the city by lawyer Jaishri Patil In her complaint seeking a probe against both Deshmukh and Param Bir Singh Patil had also attached a copy of the letter written by Singh to the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray making allegations against DeshmukhThe CBI subsequently registered an FIR against Deshmukh on charges of corruption The agency said in its FIR that Deshmukh had had the knowledge of the reinstatement of former assistant police inspector Sachin Waze and that he exercised undue interference in the transfers and postings of state police officers Waze arrested by the National Investigation Agency NIA probing the recovery of an explosivesladen SUV from outside the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in south Mumbai and the subsequent murder of Thanebased businessman Mansukh Hiran was later sacked from the serviceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever