Supreme Court extends interim relief to ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh

Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the interim protection from arrest granted to former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in a case related to the allegations of misconduct and corruptionA bench of Justices SK Kaul and MM Sundresh said that the interim order will continue till March 24Earlier the top court had directed the Maharashtra government to completely hold back the ongoing investigation against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh over the allegations of misconduct and corruptionA bench expressed concern over the messy state of affairs highlighted by the ongoing legal battle between Singh with the state administration and said that it is a very unfortunate situationThe apex court had said that it will take a call on whether the FIRs lodged by Maharashtra police against Singh is to be handed over to CBI or not and asked the state government to keep its hands off from those cases till the issue is decidedIt court in its order stated that the state government has given its assurance to put the matter on hold while the top court is considering the matterSolicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the CBI told the bench that it is in the interest of things that all cases herein be investigated by the central probe agencyEarlier the bench had allowed Mumbai Police to carry on the investigation against Singh but restrained it from filing charge sheets on the FIRs against him over the allegations of misconduct and corruptionThe apex court was hearing a petition filed by Singh seeking protection from coercive steps by Mumbai police in the cases registered against himSenior advocate Puneet Bali appearing for Singh had told the bench that the former Mumbai Police Commissioner is being targeted and the State government is trying to scuttle the probeCases were registered against Singh over allegations of misconduct corruption and extortionThe apex court had sought CBIs view on probing the cases as they are interlinked with the matters already under the investigation of the central agencySingh had approached the top court against the September 16 2021 judgment of the Bombay High Court which dismissed his pleas challenging the two enquiries orders issued by the State Home Ministry for allegedly violating service rules and allegations of corruptionThe apex court had also expressed concern over the ongoing fight between former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and Singh saying the matter has become curiouser and curiouserSinghs counsel had told the apex court that six cases of corruption and extortion were filed against Singh after he wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray levelling corruption and misconduct charges against the then senior NCP leader Anil DeshmukhOn November 18 the bench had asked Singh to disclose his whereabouts while making it clear that no protection can be granted to him against arrest until his location is knownSingh was declared an absconder by a Mumbai Magistrate after his nonappearance in an extortion caseSingh a 1988batch IPS officer was removed from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner on March 17 and was made the General Commander of Maharashtra State Home Guard after he levelled allegations against DeshmukhThis 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