The Bombay High Court has granted bail to senior NCP leader and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in the case he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Deshmukh (72) has been arrested by CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The CBI informed the court that they want to challenge the order in the Supreme Court and sought a stay of 10 days which was granted. Deshmukh was arrested on November 1, 2021.
The ED had launched a probe against Deshmukh and his associates after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against him on April 21, 2021, on charges of corruption and misuse of an official position.
The then Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who was suspended and then retired, had alleged that Deshmukh had fixed a collection target of Rs 100 crore per month for now-dismissed Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze.
Incidentally, Vaze was arrested in connection with the planting of gelatine-sticks laden Mahindra Scorpio with a threat note near Antilia, the residence of Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani and the subsequent brutal murder of the SUV owner Mansukh Hiran.
In fact, Vaze, who was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit, is a veteran in Crime Branch-CID and encounter specialist and worked under the direct command of Singh.
According to the ED case, Rs 4.70 crore was collected from various bars in Mumbai and was laundered to Nagpur-based Shri Sai Shikshan Sansthan, an educational trust controlled by the Deshmukh family.