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Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Monday, 5 April, resigned from the post of Maharashtra Home Minister, hours after the Bombay High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the corruption allegations levelled against him by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
In his letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Deshmukh said, “The Bombay High Court on 5 April, 2021, on the basis of the plea by advocate Jayshree Patil, ordered for a preliminary investigation by the CBI against me. In the backdrop of the order, it doesn't morally suit me to continue as the home minister. Hence, I have decided to step down from the post. I request you to relieve me from the same.”
Singh has accused Deshmukh of corruption and meddling in the police force’s functioning and transfers.
The court on 31 March had heard three more petitions other than Singh’s regarding the matter – a writ petition by Advocate Jaishri Patil and criminal PILs by advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay and Chartered Accountant Mohan Bhide.
However, the CBI need not register an FIR immediately or take up Patil’s complaint before it conducts an independent enquiry, the court added.
Singh had accused Deshmukh of corruption, extortion, meddling in the transfers within the force and directing investigations to be conducted according to his will, among other allegations.
Singh also challenged his transfer to the Home Guard Department by the Maharashtra government, in the backdrop of the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case and his alleged proximity with former API Sachin Vaze, who was arrested in the case.
Here are some key allegations made by Singh:
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