The Special CBI court on Wednesday allowed dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze to become an approver in a corruption case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
Special judge D.P. Shingade allowed Mr. Vaze's application to turn a witness from an accused, and said, "I have allowed your application, but I have imposed certain conditions. Let me know if it is acceptable to you. Mr. Vaze has to make full disclosure in the case. He should disclose all facts that he has given under Section 164 (recording of confessions and statements) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before a magistrate. He should truthfully answer questions which would be asked by the public prosecutor to unravel the entire case during trial," said the judge.
The court asked, "What is the status of the accused in the Enforcement Directorate case? Advocate Rounak Naik appearing for Mr. Vaze told the court that he has made an application to turn approver in that case also before the investigating agency."
On March 21, 2021, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh wrote a letter to the State Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, alleging that Mr. Deshmukh, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, had given a target of collecting ₹100 crore from bars and restaurants in the city over a month.
On April 5, the High Court had directed the Central Bureau Investigation to launch a preliminary inquiry against Mr. Deshmukh. Following this, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted an investigation into the allegations of money laundering against the then Home Minister.
On April 21, an FIR was registered against Mr. Deshmukh under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). The NCP leader is currently lodged at Arthur Road Jail.
