The Bombay High Court will hear the bail petition of former Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh in a corruption case of ₹100 crore filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on December 2.
A Single Bench of Justice M.S. Karnik was hearing the bail petition of Mr. Deshmukh, 73, lodged at the Arthur Road Jail since November 2, 2021. A special CBI court on October 21 had rejected his bail petition in the same case.
Also read: Anil Deshmukh moves HC seeking bail in corruption case; hearing on Nov 11
The court said, “This is a bail plea both on medical grounds as well as on merits. I will first hear the arguments on medical grounds. If I am satisfied only then I will go into the arguments on merits” and posted the matter to be heard on December 2.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader’s bail application stated, “He is a septuagenarian suffering from several serious ailments which have virtually incapacitated him to undertake ordinary pursuits of life without adequate medical treatment, is beseeching for a benevolent indulgence of court to admit him to regular bail in peculiar facts and circumstances which give rise to a reasonable inference that the entire proceedings are not only actuated with malice but also bereft of any legal sanctity.”
On October 4, the High Court had granted him bail in the money laundering case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate.
The case dates to March 20, 2021, when former police commissioner of Mumbai Param Bir Singh wrote a letter to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray alleging that Mr. Deshmukh of abusing his position and powers to seek illegal monetary benefits. The letter alleged instances of Mr. Deshmukh directing then police officer Sachin Vaze and others to collect ₹100 crore from bars and restaurants over a month.
The High Court on April 5, 2021 had directed a preliminary inquiry against Mr. Deshmukh by the CBI. Soon thereafter, a First Information Report was registered against Mr. Deshmukh under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
