MVA is 'Maha Vasooli Aghadi`, Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress all involved in corruption: Devendra Fadnavis after meeting Maharashtra Governor

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Wednesday met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and demanded a thorough probe into the allegations of corruption levelled against state’s Home Minister Anil Deshmukh by former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh.

A delegation of BJP leaders led by Devendra Fadnavis also listed 100-points on which the ruling ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ (MVA) government allegedly failed to discharge its constitutional duties and urged the Governor to seek a report from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

"We have submitted a list of 100-points. The CM remains silent, he does not speak so we have urged the Governor to seek a report from the government," Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis told mediapersons after emerging from the Raj Bhavan.

This Govt is not bothered about the COVID-19 situation in the state. The way in which cases are increasing here, it has become the epicentre. I don't understand what has this government done to control it? It is time to act & not give lectures: Devendra Fadnavis, BJP Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/8s7ekIroNx — ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2021

The BJP leader said that former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh has accused Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption with a massive racket of police transfers and promotions also surfacing.

However, the Chief Minister has chosen to keep mum on the issue, and Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar was defending his party, he added.

Describing the MVA as `maha vasooli aghadi`, Fadnavis alleged that the ruling allies - Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress -- are involved in the mess and corruption.

He further said that in the last one year, the MVA government has miserably failed in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and cases keep increasing only in Maharashtra.

All this came shortly after the Supreme Court observed that there was no doubt that the issues raised by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in his plea against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh were "quite serious".

The court, however, allowed Singh to withdraw his plea seeking direction for an "impartial and fair" CBI probe into alleged corrupt malpractices of Deshmukh. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R S Reddy granted liberty to Singh to approach the Bombay High Court with his grievances.

The top court said there is no doubt that the matter is ‘quite serious’ but the petitioner should first approach the Bombay High Court.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Singh, said they would file a petition in the high court today itself.

At the outset, the bench told Rohatgi that there are two preliminary questions - one is why Article 32 petition has been filed in the top court and the petitioner has not approached the high court under Article 226 and the other one is why Singh has not impleaded the state home minister as a party in his plea.

Rohatgi said that he will implead Deshmukh as a party in the matter and the application in this regard is ready. He said that this is a serious matter which has affected the administration of the state.

The bench said that the court is of the view that the petitioner should approach the high court and if he wants an investigation by an independent agency, the high court can deal with this. Rohatgi said he will approach the high court today itself and the apex court can say that the high court should take it up tomorrow.

He submitted that there is evidence in the form of CCTV which is in the possession of ATS and that has not been handed over to the NIA. The National Investigating Agency (NIA) is probing a case related to the February 25 incident in which a car with explosives was found outside the house of businessman Mukesh Ambani leading to a bomb scare.

Singh, a 1988 batch IPS officer, has also sought quashing of the order transferring him from the post of Mumbai CP alleging it to be ‘arbitrary’ and ‘illegal’.

As an interim relief, he has sought a stay of the operation of his transfer order and direction to state government, the Centre and CBI to immediately take in its custody the CCTV footage from the residence of Deshmukh.

“The petitioner has invoked writ jurisdiction of this court to seek unbiased, uninfluenced, impartial and fair investigation in the corrupt malpractices of Anil Deshmukh, the Home Minister of Government of Maharashtra before the evidence are destroyed,” he has said in his plea.

“Deshmukh had been holding meetings in February 2021 at his residence with police officers including Sachin Vaze of Crime Intelligence Unit, Mumbai and Sanjay Patil, ACP Social Service Branch, Mumbai, bypassing their seniors and had instructed them that he had a target to accumulate Rs 100 crore every month and had directed to collect money from various establishments and other sources,” Singh has alleged.