Former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh on Monday got a bail from the Bombay High Court in a corruption case filed by the CBI, news agency PTI reported. Deshmukh, however, is unlikely to walk out of the jail as the central probe agency has sought time to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court in the coming days. The 74-year-old leader is lodged at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai.
He was jailed last year amid allegations against him by former Mumbai top cop Parambir Singh. It was one of the biggest political controversies during the tenure of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Last month, the CBI had told the high court that bail for Deshmukh in the money laundering case would not make him eligible for bail in the corruption case. In its affidavit, the CBI further stated that allegations – against the former minister – under the Prevention of Corruption Act were different from the case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), registered under the PMLA. “The PMLA case has no bearing on the instant CBI case. That the allegations substantiated against the present applicant are of criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable under section 7 of the PC,” read the affidavit.
In October, the Supreme Court had rejected the ED’s challenge to the bail given to him. This was after the Bombay High Court had given him bail in the money laundering case the same month.
Param Bir Singh had accused Deshmukh of trying to extort money from bar owners in Mumbai through some police officials, including dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Waze. Arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as prime accused in the Antilia explosives scare, Waze was also connected to murder of Thane based car accessories shop owner Mansukh Hiran.
(With inputs from PTI)
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