The Bombay High Court on Friday was told by the Maharastra government that it was challenging two paragraphs in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against former State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh because it was a matter of the federal rights of the State and that it had all the locus standi to protect its rights.
A Division Bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar was hearing a petition filed through the Additional Chief Secretary of the Home Department seeking deletion of two unnumbered paragraphs in the FIR. The paragraphs mention the reinstatement of the suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze and the transfer of some other police officers.
Senior counsel Rafique Dada, appearing for the State of Maharashtra, said, “We [the State] were not against the FIR filed by CBI, but have exception against two unnumbered paragraphs which refer to Sachin Vaze being reinstated and that of the alleged interference in the transfers and postings of policemen.”
Assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze was recently dismissed from service after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the Antilla bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case.
Mr. Dada also went on to say that the State was not concerned about the charges of Anil Deshmukh as he was no longer a Minister, and that Mr. Deshmukh is capable enough to handle the charges against him. “We are here to protect our federal rights,” said Mr. Dada, and added that the CBI had breached the jurisdiction laid down for the agency in the orders passed by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta on April 5.
The Chief Justice, on the basis of a plea filed by Dr. Jayshri Patil, had asked the CBI director to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the allegations made by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, after which an FIR was registered against Mr. Deshmukh.
Mr. Dada added that nowhere in that order was there a mention of a probe on how and why Mr. Vaze was reinstated, and that the Bench had refused to deal with the contentions of undue interference in transfers and postings.
He said, “The CBI has not built a case where it states that Mr. Deshmukh was aware of Mr. Vaze being reinstated. But the fact is that Mr. Vaze was reinstated by Param Bir Singh and two others. And it was Mr. Singh who entrusted Mr. Vaze with all sensational cases,” said Mr. Dada.
While the State has started its enquiry against Mr. Singh on his letter alleging corruption charges on Mr. Deshmukh and IPS officer Rashmi Shukla, into allegedly leaking information on transfers of police officials, the CBI is blatantly trying to encroach the probe done by the State, said Mr. Dada. “We have an excellent policing record, and we cannot be accused like this. This will destroy the federal structure of the nation.”
Mr. Dada also highlighted the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Mayawati case, where the CBI’s FIR was quashed for going beyond the scope, saying, “CBI cannot probe any case without the consent of the State.”
