CBI files charge sheet against Anil Deshmukh in Rs 100 crore bribery case

The CBI has filed its charge sheet before a special court in Mumbai against Deshmukh under charges of criminal conspiracy and Prevention of Corruption Act provisions. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a charge sheet against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and others in connection with its probe into the Rs 100 crore bribery allegations levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh against him.

The move comes a day after a special court in Mumbai allowed a plea of dismissed police officer Sachin Waze to turn an approver and seek pardon in the case. Waze claimed he had co-operated with the CBI before and after his arrest in his application filed before the special CBI court. His confessional statement was recorded before a magistrate under provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). 

The CBI has filed its charge sheet, reportedly 59-pages, before a special court in Mumbai against Deshmukh and his staff members Sanjeev Palande and Kundan Shinde under charges of criminal conspiracy and Prevention of Corruption Act provisions. 

The agency had booked Deshmukh and others under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act's "attempt to obtain undue advantage for the improper and dishonest performance of public duty". 

After he was removed from Mumbai Police Commissioner's post, Singh, in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, had alleged Deshmukh had asked him to extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai, they said. 

"The preliminary enquiry prima facie revealed that a cognizable offence is made out in the matter, wherein the then home minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh and unknown others have attempted to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of their public duty," the CBI FIR has alleged.

(With inputs from PTI)