HC grants bail to Deshmukh in CBI case, says except for Waze statements nothing to show extortion

The Bombay High Court on Monday granted bail to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in a corruption case and said except that of dismissed policeman Sachin Waze, none of the statements recorded by the Central Bureau of Investigation indicate money was extorted from bar owners in Mumbai at the behest of the politician.

Adding it has to be borne in mind that Waze was a suspect and accomplice in the case who has been granted pardon, the court said ''It may not be sound'' to prolong the custody of the applicant on the basis of these materials.

A single bench of Justice M S Karnik allowed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader's bail plea after hearing arguments of both prosecution and defence Deshmukh (73), however, won't walk out of jail immediately as the HC kept the order in abeyance for 10 days as the CBI sought time to challenge it in the Supreme court.

The NCP leader had approached the HC after a special CBI court rejected his bail plea last month. He sought bail both on medical grounds as well as on merits.

The veteran politician has been in jail since November last year after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. In April this year, he was arrested by the CBI in the corruption case.

He is in judicial custody and lodged at Mumbai's Arthur Road prison.

Deshmukh was granted bail by the HC last month in the ED case related to alleged money laundering. His bail plea in the corruption case was, however, rejected by the special CBI court, noting there was prima facie evidence against him.

Deshmukh, in his bail plea in the HC filed through advocates Vikram Chaudhary, Inderpal Singh and Aniket Nikam, said he is suffering from several ailments and incarcerated since a year, and the trial may not commence anytime soon.

The plea alleged the special court, while refusing him bail, had merely done a "cut, copy and paste" of the CBI charge-sheet in the case.

Deshmukh's counsel Chaudhary had argued the former minister was getting medical aid, but he suffers from several ailments that require constant treatment and care. "He needs to be released. He is a chronic patient," Chaudhari had said.

The senior advocate submitted that as the applicant has been granted bail in the PMLA case, which originates from the CBI's case, he deserves to be released on bail.

He submitted that to rely on the statement of the approver (Waze) is fraught with peril as it is settled law that such a person is unworthy of credit unless corroborated in material particulars.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, submitted that two other facets of corruption, that is transfers and postings within the police and influencing the probe, are still under investigation.

Singh said Deshmukh is getting proper medical treatment in jail.

"His present medical condition needs to be ascertained. Medical condition is not static…it keeps changing," Singh had said during arguments on the bail plea.

The HC said acts in the instant case are alleged to have been committed by the holder of a high public office who at the relevant time was the state Home Minister.

The allegations in the present case are ''undoubtedly serious'', it said.

The bench said the allegation is that the applicant (Deshmukh) instructed Waze to collect Rs 3 lakh each from 1,750 orchestra bars/pubs/establishments in Mumbai totalling around Rs 40 to Rs 50 crore.

The ASG submitted that statements of Param Bir Singh, the (then) Mumbai police commissioner and Crime Branch ACP Sanjay Patil corroborate the allegations made by Waze that money was to be collected at the behest of the applicant and handed over to him.

The HC said the statements as they stand, even without testing their veracity, which is a subject matter of trial, create some doubt as to on whose behest the money was collected.

"I may hasten to add that these are very prima facie observations limited to considering this application for bail," the judge noted.

The judge said, as the charge-sheet stands, the prosecution's case is mainly based on the statements of Waze, who has turned approver.

''Except for Sachin Waze, none of the statements recorded indicate it was under the instructions of the applicant (Deshmukh) that the money was to be collected. It is for the trial court to look for corroboration in material particulars for relying on the statement of Sachin Waze, the approver," the HC said.

''To prolong the custody of the applicant on the basis of these materials may not be sound. I am, therefore, inclined to exercise the discretion for grant of bail, this being one of the circumstances," it said.

The bench said the applicant is 73-year-old and suffering from multiple ailments, which is a factor that deserves to be taken into consideration.

"The medical reports/certificates show that the applicant is suffering from chronic ailments. This court in the PMLA case has noted that in the light of the materials on record, it would be audacious to observe that the applicant is not a sick person," the court said.

The court said the accused is in custody for more than a year and that a charge-sheet was filed by the CBI on June 2, 2022.

On the two other facets of corruption, the court said the applicant is no longer the (state) home minister and, therefore, there is no question of he influencing the investigation.

''The offence with which the applicant is charged with is punishable with imprisonment of up to 7 years, but not with life or death. There are no criminal antecedents reported against the applicant. Having regard to the totality of the circumstances, in my opinion, the applicant can be released on bail," the bench said.

The then Mumbai police commissioner Singh had, in March 2021, alleged Deshmukh, the then-home minister, had given a target to police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from restaurants and bars.

Former assistant police inspector Waze, arrested in the 'Antilia' bomb scare case of March 2021, too, had levelled similar allegations.

The HC, in April 2021, directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary inquiry. The CBI, based on this inquiry, registered an FIR against Deshmukh and his aides for alleged corruption and misuse of official power.