In a setback to former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, the Bombay High Court refused to quash the CBI's first information report against him for the probe into the charges of corruption on Thursday, 22 July.
Rejecting a plea by Deshmukh and the Maharashtra government, a division bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice NJ Jamdar said that "it deserved to be dismissed".
The CBI had lodged the FIR against Deshmukh and other unknown persons on 24 April, following a high court order for a preliminary enquiry on 5 April.
Deshmukh's lawyer, Amit Desai also sought time for a stay on the verdict and to appeal against it, which was refused by the court.
In his 'letter-bomb' to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on 20 March, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had set a target of collecting Rs 100 crore per month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai and other misdeeds, but the ex-minister had rejected the allegations.
The high court on 5 April disposed off a bunch of petitions in this regard, including by Singh and by lawyer Jayshri Patil, directing the preliminary inquiry against Deshmukh, which led to his resignation and a massive political furore.
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