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Journalism of Courage
Former Maharashtra home minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Anil Deshmukh was on Wednesday released from Arthur Road jail, where he was lodged since November 2021 on allegations of corruption and money laundering. “There was no truth to the allegations made against me. I am thankful to the judiciary,” Deshmukh said after his release.
A timeline of the events that led to Deshmukh’s arrest and the cases against him:
December 2019: Five-time MLA Anil Deshmukh was made minister of home affairs in Maharashtra.
June 5, 2020: Assistant inspector Sachin Waze, suspended for his alleged involvement in the Khwaja Yunus custodial death case, was reinstated after 16 years based on a decision taken by a review committee of the Mumbai police, led by then police commissioner Param Bir Singh. Later, Waze was given charge of the Crime Intelligence Unit, part of the Mumbai Crime Branch, and he led investigations in important cases, including the alleged TRP fraud case.
February 25, 2021: An SUV planted with gelatin sticks and a threat letter was parked near Antilia, the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani.
March 5, 2021: Body of Mansukh Hiran, a man linked to the SUV, found. Allegations made in the Maharashtra Assembly about Hiran’s link with police officer Waze.
March 13, 2021: Waze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
March 17, 2021: Param Bir Singh removed as Mumbai police commissioner and posted to the home guard in the wake of the Ambani house bomb scare case.
March 20, 2021: Three days after his removal as Mumbai police commissioner, Param Bir Singh wrote a letter to then CM Uddhav Thackeray making corruption allegations against then home minister Anil Deshmukh. Singh, in his letter, alleged that Deshmukh had asked now suspended and arrested assistant police inspector Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore every month, including Rs 40-50 crore from 1,750 bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Opposition demanded Deshmukh’s removal.
March 21, 2021: Mumbai-based lawyer Jaishri Patil filed a complaint at Malabar Hill police station against Deshmukh and unknown persons based on Param Bir Singh’s letter to Thackeray.
March 24, 2021: Advocate Patil approaches the Bombay High Court seeking cognisance of her complaint and a probe by an independent central agency against Deshmukh.
March 25, 2021: After the Supreme Court asked him to approach the Bombay High Court, Param Bir Singh filed a criminal PIL in the high court, seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Deshmukh.
April 5, 2021: Maintaining that there cannot be “fair, impartial probe if the same was entrusted to the state police force which is under the control” of Deshmukh, the then home minister, the Bombay High Court bench led by then Chief Justice Dipankar Datta (currently a Supreme Court judge) directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary enquiry (PE) into Param Bir Singh’s corruption allegations against Deshmukh. After the high court asked CBI to complete the PE within 15 days, Deshmukh resigned.
April 21, 2021: Based on a preliminary probe as per the high court order, the CBI registered an FIR against Deshmukh and unknown persons.
May 3, 2021: The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government moved the high court seeking directions to set aside two paragraphs from the CBI FIR against Deshmukh related to the reinstatement of now dismissed police officer Sachin Waze and allegations against Deshmukh related to transfers and postings of police officials. On the same day, Deshmukh filed a writ petition in the high court seeking to quash and set aside the CBI FIR against him and unknown persons on charges of bribery, corruption and criminal conspiracy.
July 1, 2021: Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Deshmukh’s secretary and assistant in connection with a money-laundering case.
July 22, 2021: The Bombay High Court bench led by Justice S S Shinde dismissed Deshmukh’s writ petition challenging the CBI FIR. It also dismissed a plea by the Maharashtra government seeking directions to set aside two paragraphs from the CBI FIR.
August 18, 2021: The Supreme Court dismissed Deshmukh’s plea challenging the high court order that rejected his plea challenging the CBI FIR. The apex court also dismissed a plea by the Maharashtra government challenging the CBI’s inquiry into alleged postings and transfers of police officers by Deshmukh.
August 23, 2021: ED files a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) naming Deshmukh as an accused. Deshmukh summoned to appear before ED.
September 2021: ED says Deshmukh not appearing before it despite summons.
October 29, 2021: The Bombay High Court bench led by Justice Nitin M Jamdar rejected a plea by Deshmukh, seeking quashing of ED summons, asking him to appear before it in connection with a money laundering and corruption case. The court had, however, said that Deshmukh can move a competent court seeking protection from arrest under Section 438 of CrPC.
November 2, 2021: ED arrested Deshmukh at around 1.30 am after a marathon questioning session of 12 hours which began on the afternoon of November 1, 2021.
December 2021: ED filed chargesheet against Deshmukh, also naming his two sons, Hrishikesh and Salil as accused. The agency claimed Deshmukh was the primary beneficiary of the money laundering of a sum of Rs 4.7 crore allegedly collected between December 2020-March 2021 by Waze.
January 2022: Deshmukh sought bail in the ED case before a special court. “…a very peculiar circumstance in this case is that the home minister of a state is being accused of money collection by a lower-level rank officer Waze, who was an API with a highly dubious past,” the plea said.
March 22, 2022: Deshmukh moved the high court, seeking bail in ED case after the special court rejected his plea.
April 6, 2022: CBI arrested Deshmukh.
June 2022: CBI filed chargesheet. Waze sought to become approver and court allowed plea.
July 11, 2022: The special court rejected Deshmukh’s plea seeking default bail in the CBI case.
September 26, 2022: The Supreme Court directed the Bombay High Court to hear and decide Deshmukh’s plea in the ED case expeditiously and noted that the same was pending in the high court since March 21.
October 4, 2022: A bench of Justice N J Jamadar of the Bombay High Court granted Deshmukh bail in the ED case. However, he still remained in custody in a corruption case lodged by CBI. The high court had observed that prima facie, reliance could not be placed on Waze’s statement.
October 21, 2022: The special court rejected Deshmukh’s bail plea in the CBI case.
October 25, 2022: Deshmukh approached the high court, challenging a special CBI court order rejecting his bail plea.
October 11, 2022: The Supreme Court dismissed ED’s plea seeking cancellation of bail granted to Deshmukh in the money laundering case.
December 12, 2022: A bench of Justice Makarand S Karnik of the high court granted bail to Deshmukh in the CBI corruption case. However, the judge had said the order would become effective only after 10 days so that the CBI could approach the Supreme Court to challenge the same by then. The high court had observed that except for Waze’s statement, none of the other statements indicated that money was collected under Deshmukh’s instructions and material related to Waze’s statement can be examined during the trial. The high court had also noted that Deshmukh suffered from multiple ailments and since he is no longer home minister, there was no question of him influencing the probe.
December 16, 2022: The CBI filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court bail order. It was the last working day of the Supreme Court before it closed for Christmas/winter break.
December 21, 2022: Justice Karnik extended the stay on the effect of Deshmukh’s bail order till December 27 and made it clear that “no further request of extension under any circumstances will be entertained”.
December 27, 2022: A vacation bench of the high court refused to “override” the regular bench order and refused to extend the time to make effective bail order to Deshmukh further. The high court’s refusal paved the way for the bail order to become effective from December 28 unless the Supreme Court intervened. The CBI, while seeking an extension, had told the high court that it would make efforts to get its application challenging the bail order listed before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
December 28, 2022: Anil Deshmukh released from Arthur Road prison.
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