The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to intervene in a petition filed by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh to order a CBI investigation into allegations of corruption and abuse of office levelled against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R. Subhash Reddy asked Mr. Singh, who was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, to approach the Bombay High Court with his plea for an investigation by an independent agency.

Mr. Rohatgi said Mr. Singh would move the High Court in the afternoon itself as the “matter was too serious”.

“The parties in this case were hunky-dory for a long time. Now they have fallen apart and this has come up. I agree it is serious, but High Court can deal with it,” Justice Kaul reacted.

Mr. Singh, who was shunted out to the Home Guards Department, said his transfer order arrived “immediately after” he complained to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other senior leaders about the “corrupt malpractices” of Mr. Deshmukh.

He said his recent transfer to the Home Guard Department violated the Supreme Court’s direction that senior police officers should be guaranteed a tenure of not less than two years in their posts without political interference.

“The entire State is rocked. Police reforms have not taken place,” Mr. Rohatgi submitted.

“That is the case with all States, including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, it’s just not this State,” Justice Kaul observed orally.

Justice Kaul also asked Mr. Rohatgi why the Minister was not made a party in the petition. Mr. Rohatgi said he would amend the petition and make him a party, but the court said approaching the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution was equally viable and Mr. Singh should do that.

‘Matter of public interest’

“This is a matter of serious public interest for whole nation. A police officer is transferred citing administrative grounds but Home Minister himself said on TV that it is not an administrative transfer… This court has entertained petitions under Article 32 on much lesser issues,” Mr. Rohatgi said.

“The point is simple. He is making some allegations and the Minister is also making allegations. I don’t see a point why you should not move High Court. If you give a list of cases entertained under Article 32, I can also give cases we have relegated to High Court. The power of Article 226 is wide,” Justice Kaul responded

Mr. Rohatgi urged the Bench to request the High Court to take up the case on Thursday itself.

“That request is to be made before High Court,” Justice Kaul did not relent.

Mr. Singh has alleged that Mr. Deshmukh held meetings with “officers of lower rank” like Sachin Vaze, now in custody in connection with the Mukesh Ambani residence bomb scare case, and Sanjay Patil, an ACP with the Social Service Branch, at his residence in February. This was done “bypassing their seniors”. The Home Minister had “instructed” the duo to “accumulate ₹100 crore every month”.

“For achieving this target, the Home Minister had told Vaze that there are about 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of ₹2-3 lakh each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of ₹ 40-50 crore was achievable,” the petition by Mr. Singh said.

Also read: Maharashtra Home Minister sought ₹100 crore a month from Sachin Vaze, says Mumbai Police ex-chief

The former top police official has alleged the Minister, besides using police officers for his “malicious intent of extorting money”, interfered with investigations, ordering them to be conducted in a “particular manner”. He had also indulged in corrupt practices in official postings and transfers of officers.

Mr. Singh has said he had conveyed his apprehensions to senior leaders and the Chief Minister. “Immediately thereafter, on March 17, he [Singh] was transferred from the post of the Mumbai Police Commissioner to the Home Guard Department in an arbitrary and illegal manner without the completing of the minimum fixed tenure of two years,” the petition said.

The 1988 IPS batch officer said his allegations against Mr. Deshmukh, which also form the content of an explosive letter, required an “unbiased, uninfluenced, impartial and fair investigation” by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Singh said the court had to act quickly before the evidence against Mr. Deshmukh was “destroyed”.

Mr. Singh said the official reason for his transfer was given as “administrative exigencies”.

However, he believed that the official file also noted that he was removed as Mumbai Police Commissioner “to ensure a free and fair investigation in the Antilla incident [Ambani residence bomb scare case]”.

He said that he had assisted the investigation by National Investigation Agency and the Anti-Terrorism Squad into the Antilla incident. There was no case against him that he had in any way obstructed the free and fair investigation.