Maharashtra, Dec 12, 2022: On Monday, the Bombay High Court granted bail to former Maharashtra home minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Anil Deshmukh in a corruption case which had been earlier lodged by the CBI.
However, the court has stated that the bail order will become effective only after ten days, so that the CBI can appear before the Supreme Court to challenge the high court order till then.
A single-judge bench of Justice Makarand S Karnik directed that Deshmukh be released on bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh along with sureties of like amount and further directed him to coperate with the probe. After the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sought a stay on effect of the bail order to approach the Supreme Court, the high court stated the order will be effective after ten days.
Deshmukh, 73, challenged the CBI court order and in his plea contested that the trial court erred in refusing bail to him and that its order was mere “cut, copy and paste job” of contents in the CBI chargesheet. The plea also stated that the “approach adopted in the trial court order was perverse” and while the high court had considered his medical status while deciding his bail plea in the ED case, the trial court overlooked the same.
On October 4, the coordinate bench of the high court had granted bail to Deshmukh in relation to the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The high court had observed that prima facie, reliance could not be placed on the statement of dismissed Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze. Deshmukh was arrested in a money laundering case by the ED in November last year.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh, representing the CBI, said the probe as well as statements given by Waze and Deshmukh’s aides Sanjeev Palande and Kundan Shinde show that the NCP leader was “involved in corruption of highest level” which further affected the governance of the state.
