CBI meddling in Rashmi Shukla case through its FIR against Deshmukh: Maharashtra govt

The Maharashtra government on Friday told the Bombay High Court that it did not want to be seen as defending NCP leader Anil Deshmukh but the CBI was trying to interfere in the inquiry against IPS officer Rashmi Shukla by expanding the scope of its probe against the former state home ministerThe state has moved the high court alleging that some portions of the FIR registered by the central agency against Deshmukh were unwarranted and intended to destabilize the Shiv SenaCongressNCP governmentThe state did not want to interfere in the CBIs probe against Deshmukh for alleged corruption the Maharashtra governments lawyer and senior advocate Rafique Dada told a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J JamdarAlso Read Atrocities case Maharashtra govt extends protection from arrest to Param Bir Singh till June 22It merely wanted to get some portions from First Information Report FIR expunged I do not want to be seen as supporting Mr Deshmukh He is not my minister anymore advocate Dada said when the CBIs lawyer proposed that the court hear the pleas filed by the state and Deshmukh togetherThe CBI included the issues of reinstatement of now dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze and transfers and postings of some other officers in the past in its FIR which were not part of the original complaint he saidBy including the issues of Vazes reinstatement and Deshmukhs alleged interference in transfers the CBI was trying to peep into issues in which the state was already conducting inquiries Dada saidThe inclusion of these issues in the FIR was a pretext to interfere in the case of IPS officer Rashmi Shukla he saidShukla a former state intelligence commissioner is facing inquiry for alleged unauthorized phone tapping and the leak of a confidential reportThey CBI are trying to interfere in the investigations that we have already ordered Dada saidNow through a backdoor method through this FIR the CBI is trying to rake these issues and resurrect these inquiries Dada allegedOn April 5 the HC hearing a bunch of pleas including one filed by lawyer Jaishri Patil directed the CBI to initiate a preliminary inquiry into allegations of corruption made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir SinghAs the Maharashtra government had withdrawn its general consent for CBI probes in the state in October 2020 in the present case the central agencys investigation should be based only on the HC order and Patils complaint Dada arguedThe state is not against the CBI investigation What we are aggrieved by is only certain portions of the FIR that have gone beyond the HC order he saidEven Param Bir Singhs letter to the Chief Minister against Deshmukh which was attached to Patils complaint did not speak of transfers and postings issue Dada saidSingh subsequently filed a public interest litigation where he alleged that Deshmukh interfered in police transfers and postings and CBI copied this portion on transfers from the PIL and made it a part of the FIR Dada claimedThe Maharashtra government moved the HC since this is a matter of federal rights of the state he arguedDeshmukh too has filed a separate plea through senior advocate Amit Desai challenging the entire FIR registered against himWhile the CBIs counsel Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh suggested that the high court hear the Maharashtra government and Deshmukh together and the CBI thereafter the state objectedDeshmukh was no longer a minister and it didnt want to be seen as defending him Dada saidThe HC will hear the CBIs arguments on June 21 The agency told the court that it was ready to abide by its earlier undertaking not to take any coercive action against Deshmukh till June 22This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever