The Central Bureau of Investigation told the Bombay High Court that the Maharashtra government's plea seeking quashing of summons issued by the central agency to state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte and DGP Sanjay Pandey was a surrogate one.

The "real actor" behind the petition was former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, who is currently being probed by the CBI for alleged corruption and extortion, the agency's counsel, Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi told the court. Lekhi reiterated before a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and SV Kotwal that the Maharashtra government's petition seeking quashing of summons issued to Kunte and Pandey for questioning related to the Deshmukh probe was an attempt to scuttle and derail the central agency's investigation.