The Supreme Court on Thursday transferred the probe into cases against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the Maharashtra police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The court said the transfer was not a comment on the State police’s conduct of the investigation so far, but should be considered as an effort to reach the truth.
“Exigencies and advancement of principles of justice and fair play and impartial enquiry require the investigation to be transferred to the CBI. We are not saying that the appellant [Mr. Singh] is a whistleblower; we are not saying anyone in this process is washed with milk. What is the truth, who is at fault, how does such a scenario come to prevail… All this is something the investigation must uncover,” a Bench led by Justice S.K. Kaul observed.
‘Impartial inquiry’
The court asked the CBI to hold an impartial inquiry and find out whether there was any truth in the allegations of corruption, misconduct and extortion levelled against Mr. Singh or whether the cases against the senior police officer were triggered by his letter accusing former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of foul play. Mr. Deshmukh had to resign. He is now under arrest and facing corruption and money laundering charges.
“The CBI must hold an impartial inquiry into all these aspects to find out whether the allegations made in the FIRs have some truth or they are repercussions of the appellant raising the red flag,” the Bench said.
It refrained from making any observations, one way or the other, about the veracity or merits of the allegations against Mr. Singh, who had appealed to the apex court after the Bombay High Court refused his plea to transfer the five FIRs against him to the CBI.
The Bench refused to agree with the High Court’s finding that these cases were service disputes in nature. The court however did not revoke Mr. Singh’s suspension.
‘Co-operate with CBI’
“We allow the appeal and direct the further investigation into five FIRs and PE be transferred to the CBI with all records to be handed over in one week. Needless to say, all concerned and the State police will render full assistance to the CBI to try to get to the truth”, the apex court directed.
The Bench said departmental inquiries could wait for the results of the CBI investigation. Any further FIRs against Mr. Singh should also be transferred to the CBI.
On February 22, the Supreme Court had asked the Maharashtra government to “completely stay its hand” against Mr. Singh while it took a call on whether criminal cases registered against him ought to be transferred to the CBI.
The court had expressed its disappointment at the state of mutual distrust between Maharashtra and its once top police official. It had termed it a “messy state of affairs” which could even dent the confidence of the people in the police system.
