The material collected by the investigating officer shows that Dasgupta manipulated TRP for particular channels by using his office as the CEO of BARC, the court observed.
The ruling party in Maharashtra also questioned the move of the National Investigation Agency taking over the probe into the explosives-laden SUV found parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house last month, saying that the agency generally investigates terrorism-related cases, but there was no terror angle involved in this episode.
A senior Mumbai police officer has claimed that the IPS brother-in-law of Sushant Singh Rajput had asked him to call the actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty to police station and pressurise her.
The Supreme Court on Thursday junked a plea filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh seeking records, including file notings and internal correspondence, of the preliminary enquiry report in the corruption case, saying "should we entertain this because he has been a minister."
Addressing an event in Wardha, Deshmukh said, "You all know I was kept in jail for 14 months under false allegations. I had received an offer for a deal. Had I accepted, I wouldn't have been in jail."
The former Mumbai Commissioner of Police, a 1988 batch IPS officer also sought quashing of the order transferring him from the post of Mumbai CP alleging it to be "arbitrary" and "illegal".
The high court had on December 12 granted bail to the 73-year-old NCP leader in the case but said the order will be effective after 10 days
The bench was hearing a petition filed by the NCP leader challenging the FIR registered by the CBI on April 24 on charges of corruption and misuse of official position. The FIR was lodged after the agency carried out a preliminary enquiry pursuant to directions from the high court.
The top court said that it cannot dilute the direction of a constitutional court ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation probe by drawing a line for the agency on which aspect the investigation should be done.
Pawar met Modi at the Prime Minister's Office in Parliament along with NCP Lok Sabha member P P Mohammad Faizal, who raised issues related to his constituency Lakshadweep.
'Police officers should be selected on merit and not on the basis of who is close to the political party in power.'
The notice has been sent under section 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, asking Goswami to show reasons as to why a bond of good behaviour should not be taken from him, a police official said.
After the Bombay HC last week refused to quash these summons, he appeared before the agency.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party, has said that helming the NCP away from the shadows of his uncle and founder Sharad Pawar after the split is a huge responsibility.
The truth will come out after a probe into the matter, Deshmukh told reporters at the Nagpur airport.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday said migrant workers from other states were responsible for the rapid spread of coronavirus in Maharashtra, which has been reporting a large number of new infections since the last few weeks.
There is growing talk of a realignment of forces in Maharashtra after May 2 when the results of West Bengal and other four states would be in, notes Virendra Kapoor.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay high court order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a preliminary inquiry within 15 days into the allegations of corruption and misconduct levelled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh against ex-Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
The report was leaked to the media on August 29, 2021 "to subvert" the Bombay high court-directed probe against him, the agency has alleged.
'...to give him a signal that you cannot ignore Maharashtra, you are too close to the Centre.' 'I can see some kind of rivalry also in this, but it is better that the NIA goes deep into it.'
Raut said the MVA government in did not have damage control machinery.
Singh had initially approached the Supreme Court, alleging he was transferred from the post of Commissioner Police of Mumbai on March 17 and shunted to the Home Guards department after he complained to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other senior leaders about the "corrupt malpractices" of Deshmukh.
The Bombay high court had on Monday refused to grant interim relief to Arnab Goswami and two others in connection with the case and directed him to approach a lower court to seek bail.
In a 'major breakthrough', the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a policeman and a bookie in connection with the alleged murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran, an official said on Sunday, adding Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze had played a key role in the crime and emerged as the prime accused.
A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) attaching a residential flat worth Rs 1.54 crore in Mumbai's Worli, and 25 land parcels valued at Rs 2.67 crore in Dhutum village in Raigad district.
Former actress Mamta Kulkarni was on Saturday named as a prime accused in a multi-crore drug racket linked to drug baron Vicky Goswami, with Mumbai police claiming that she was actively involved in the illicit activities and would seek her extradition from Kenya.
The Enforcement Directorate had asked the 71-year-old Nationalist Congress Party leader to appear before it at 11 am on Tuesday, after he did not depose before the investigating officer here on Saturday.
"I thought why not the son of a person who had contributed for Maharashtra should become the CM and I insisted Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister. Fadnavis had worked with Uddhav so he knows how Uddhav is. He should stop questioning repeatedly about how Uddhav became CM," the NCP chief said.
The CBI has arrested former Maharashtra Home minister Anil Deshmukh's lawyer Anand Daga for allegedly trying to subvert the probe against him, officials said.
Deshmukh denied the allegations raised against him by Singh during questioning and told the officers that they were an attempt to malign the image of the state government, sources said.
A bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and SV Kotwal passed scathing comments against the Maharashtra government's conduct through the entire Anil Deshmukh-Param Bir Singh episode in its judgement.
Waze's letter claimed that in January 2021, another state minister Anil Parab asked him to look into an inquiry against "fraudulent" contractors listed in the BMC and collectat least Rs 2 crore from about 50 such contractors.
'In Maharashtra he didn't buckle under pressure.' 'We expect him to do the same as the CBI Director.'
I went to the NIA office on my own and was arrested, the police officer said, adding he had not confessed to anything.
"A CBI probe is ongoing into transfers and postings of state police officers made during former home minister Anil Deshmukh's tenure. Then the next in line (to be probed) is the Director General of Police, who is the fulcrum, who is at the heart of the issue of transfers and postings. So having the former DGP head the investigation is like having Anil Deshmukh investigate it himself," the state's lawyer told the Bombay High Court.
The central agency Wednesday examined Deshmukh's son-in-law Gaurav Chaturvedi and lawyer Anand Daga in over its probe after which an FIR was registered, they said.
While seeking his remand, the central probe agency had sought the court's permission to take the accused to its head office in New Delhi for interrogation via "scientific techniques".
The NIA has said its investigation has revealed Waze and other accused had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Hiran on March 2 and 3.
Explaining the modus operandi, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Mukund Hatote told a Thane court that "best performing" staffers were given reward of up to Rs 1 lakh by the operators of the racket for making US nationals cough up money.
After the high court order on April 5, Deshmukh, a veteran politician from Vidarbha, had resigned from the state government.
