<p>In a jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court ordered a preliminary enquiry into the allegations made by Mumbai Police’s ex-chief Param Bir Singh against state home minister Anil Deshmukh.</p>.<p>Singh – an IPS officer of the 1988 batch who was shunted out as commissioner of police of Mumbai and made the commandant general of Home Guards – has alleged that Deshmukh fixed a Rs 100-crore collection target for suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze.</p>.<p>Vaze (49), who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit if Mumbai Police Crime Branch-CID is allegedly involved in parking a Scorpio laden with 20-odd gelatin sticks and a threatening letter near Antilia, the residence of India's top business Mukesh Ambani and the mysterious murder of SUV owner Mansukh Hiren</p>.<p>Deshmukh (70), a senior politician from Vidarbha, is a loyalist of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and a confidante of party’s general secretary Praful Patel.</p>.<p>Singh has filed a criminal PIL in the Bombay High Court.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/anil-deshmukh-brings-home-a-maha-crisis-970074.html" target="_blank">Anil Deshmukh brings home a 'Maha' crisis</a></strong></p>.<p>The bench comprising chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice GS Kulkarni – that heard a bunch of petitions last week - ordered the Director of CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry in accordance with law and conclude it within 15 days.</p>.<p>Once the preliminary inquiry is complete, the director CBI is at discretion to decide on further course of action, the court said.</p>.<p>Further details of the order are awaited.</p>.<p>“It is a welcome development,” said BJP leader Atul Bhatkalkar. He said that it is high time that Deshmukh tendered his resignation.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/eyewash-says-bjp-on-probe-panel-against-anil-deshmukh-968709.html" target="_blank">Eyewash, says BJP on probe panel against Anil Deshmukh</a></strong></p>.<p>It may be recalled that amid call for resignation of Deshmukh by opposition BJP, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government appointed a high-level inquiry committee headed by justice Kailash Chandiwal, a one-man probe panel headed by former judge of Bombay High Court.<br /><br />The BJP, however, has said that the probe was not instituted under Commission of Inquiry Act and would serve no purpose.</p>
<p>In a jolt to the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court ordered a preliminary enquiry into the allegations made by Mumbai Police’s ex-chief Param Bir Singh against state home minister Anil Deshmukh.</p>.<p>Singh – an IPS officer of the 1988 batch who was shunted out as commissioner of police of Mumbai and made the commandant general of Home Guards – has alleged that Deshmukh fixed a Rs 100-crore collection target for suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze.</p>.<p>Vaze (49), who was heading the Crime Intelligence Unit if Mumbai Police Crime Branch-CID is allegedly involved in parking a Scorpio laden with 20-odd gelatin sticks and a threatening letter near Antilia, the residence of India's top business Mukesh Ambani and the mysterious murder of SUV owner Mansukh Hiren</p>.<p>Deshmukh (70), a senior politician from Vidarbha, is a loyalist of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and a confidante of party’s general secretary Praful Patel.</p>.<p>Singh has filed a criminal PIL in the Bombay High Court.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/anil-deshmukh-brings-home-a-maha-crisis-970074.html" target="_blank">Anil Deshmukh brings home a 'Maha' crisis</a></strong></p>.<p>The bench comprising chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice GS Kulkarni – that heard a bunch of petitions last week - ordered the Director of CBI to conduct a preliminary inquiry in accordance with law and conclude it within 15 days.</p>.<p>Once the preliminary inquiry is complete, the director CBI is at discretion to decide on further course of action, the court said.</p>.<p>Further details of the order are awaited.</p>.<p>“It is a welcome development,” said BJP leader Atul Bhatkalkar. He said that it is high time that Deshmukh tendered his resignation.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/eyewash-says-bjp-on-probe-panel-against-anil-deshmukh-968709.html" target="_blank">Eyewash, says BJP on probe panel against Anil Deshmukh</a></strong></p>.<p>It may be recalled that amid call for resignation of Deshmukh by opposition BJP, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government appointed a high-level inquiry committee headed by justice Kailash Chandiwal, a one-man probe panel headed by former judge of Bombay High Court.<br /><br />The BJP, however, has said that the probe was not instituted under Commission of Inquiry Act and would serve no purpose.</p>