Muted MVA response as govt hopes for thorough investigation

“They must not work as a puppet of the Centre and must work as an independent agency,” Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said.

Meanwhile, the Congress said the judgement did not come as a surprise to many. “Through this judgment, one may feel that the CBI is an inviolate and impartial agency while state agencies are untrustworthy. Judgments of the current era are beyond our comprehension…” MPCC general secretary Sachin Sawant said.

NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said that the state government would respect the SC decision.

Meanwhile, chargesheets have already been filed in two of the five cases registered in Maharashtra linked to Param Bir Singh that were transferred to the CBI by the Supreme Court earlier in the day.  In those cases, the CBI will have to take cognisance of the evidence brought on record by the investigating agency.

A senior official from the Maharashtra police said they will be handing over all the documents, including the chargesheets, to the CBI. The officer said that investigation in the FIR registered at Goregaon police station in August was completed by the Mumbai crime branch. In December last year, a chargesheet was filed against Singh, dismissed cop Sachin Waze and two others in an extortion case related to a hotelier.

The officer said this chargesheet was prior to the SC barring the police from filing any more chargesheets in the case. “In the chargesheet, we have produced evidence against Singh and others. The CBI will further investigate the case and will have to file a supplementary chargesheet either agreeing with the crime branch chargesheet or giving reasons why the evidence brought on record against Singh does not stand,” the officer said.

The officer said that a chargesheet was filed last month in another case being investigated by the CID. This was the case initially registered at Marine Drive police station in July 2021 on the complaint of Mira Bhayander-based businessman Sham Sundar Agarwal who alleged that he was falsely implicated and the accused demanded money for not arresting him.

Since the SC barred any more chargesheets against Singh in December, the CID filed a chargesheet against the other accused, including two inspectors and two private persons, an officer said. He added, “We are sure that the CBI will appreciate the evidence that has been collected by the investigating agencies so far in these two cases and take the probe forward.”

Newsletter | Click to get the day’s best explainers in your inbox

The other three cases against Singh include one registered in April last year on the complaint of inspector Bhimrao Ghadge. Ghadge, during his stint with Thane police, reported to Singh, then Thane Commissioner. He had alleged that Singh asked him to drop charges against a person and extort money.

In the last week of July, another FIR was registered against Singh at Kopri police station in Thane on the complaint of developer Shyam Sundar Agarwal and his nephew Sharad. Agarwal alleged that Singh and other police officers threatened to falsely implicate him in a case on the pretext of which they harassed and extorted money from him.

The other case against Singh was filed on the basis of a complaint by businessman Ketan Tanna who alleged that Singh along with other police officials and gangster Ravi Pujari, threatened and extorted money from him. The probe in the three cases was also being done by the state CID. However, chargesheets were not filed.

Apart from these five cases, the enquiry being conducted by the Anti Corruption Bureau against Singh is also likely to be transferred to the CBI. “While we have not received a formal government order, we believe that since the enquiries are linked to Singh, these too will go to the CBI,” an official said.

A senior officer said, “The transfer of the cases will mean that the investigation will take longer as the CBI will begin the probe from scratch and start with getting the documents translated from Marathi into English. However, if there is enough evidence against Singh in the cases registered in Maharashtra, he will have to face prosecution, if not by the state agencies, then by the CBI.”

Meanwhile, the state government will continue with its departmental inquiry against Singh.