"White-collar" crimes like this harm the country's economy and it can not ignore the statement of dismissed police officer and accused-turned-approver Sachin Waze in the case, the court said.
NCP president Sharad Pawar said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will decide the fate of Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who is facing corruption allegations by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh.
A team of CBI officials reached the residence of Deshmukh in Nagpur and Mumbai this morning with necessary warrants.
A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala was told by advocate Sudhanshu S Choudhuri that the two MLAs have been booked for offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and are in jail.
In his statement before the ED, Waze had alleged that Deshmukh asked him to collect money from bars.
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.
Deshmukh's personal assistant Kundan Shinde and personal secretary Sanjeev Palande were asked to appear before the CBI team in connection with its ongoing preliminary enquiry into the case following directives of the Bombay high court.
Reacting to Waze's claims, Fadnavis, who heads the Home department, assured to conduct a proper inquiry.
"Now why is the state government averse? We don't have any words. Why should the state government do this?" Justice S S Shinde asked Maharashtra's senior counsel Rafiq Dada.
Earlier, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh had accused Deshmukh of asking Waze to collect money from bar owners in Mumbai, an allegation which Deshmukh, who later resigned, denied.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh Monday filed a petition before the Supreme Court and claimed that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh 'pressurised' to probe the role of certain Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and to 'somehow implicate' them in the case of death of MP Mohan Delkar but he 'did not succumb' to the pressure.
After the Bombay HC last week refused to quash these summons, he appeared before the agency.
"It is complete red herring. I thought the state will see some sense. But, these are different nature of battles. Sorry, dismissed," the bench said.
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.
Dismissed police officer Sachin Waze on Tuesday told an inquiry commission that the time he spent in the National Investigation Agency's custody following arrest in the Antilia bomb scare case was the 'most traumatic time' of his life, and claimed he had signed various documents 'under duress.'
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday said its division bench (comprising two judges), instead of a single-judge bench, would hear the petition filed by Maharashtra's former home minister Anil Deshmukh against the summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has opted not to grant tickets to eight MLAs, followed by Congress which replaced five MLAs.
Amid opposition call for his resignation over the Beed sarpanch murder case, Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde on Wednesday said he is ready to quit if asked by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis or deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday reserved till Thursday its order on the bail pleas of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and state minister Nawab Malik seeking the one-day relief to cast their votes in the June 10 Rajya Sabha elections.
Singh said in his plea before the high court that Deshmukh held meetings at his residence with several Mumbai police officials, including Waze, in February this year.
Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday said he will appear before the ED, which had summoned him in connection with its probe into a money laundering case, "after the legal process is completed".
Anil Deshmukh said the whole of Maharashtra and India knows that Ajit Pawar and those with him hurriedly joined the government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Bhopal.
The MVA government had planned to arrest Devendra Fadnavis and when he objected, they planned to arrest him as well, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde
'The attack on Saif Ali Khan yet again raises questions on Mumbai Police & the Home Minister'
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, whose allegations against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh have created a political storm in the state, wrote a letter to the chief minister as he was hurt over remarks of Deshmukh and it was a matter relating to his 'self-respect', sources close to him have said.
The Bombay high court will pronounce on Friday its order on two petitions filed by Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik and former state home minister Anil Deshmukh, both jailed Nationalist Congress Party legislators, seeking permission to cast their votes in the MLC elections scheduled on June 20.
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.
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.
Deshmukh filed his bail application through advocates Aniket Nikam and Inderpal Singh before the special CBI court judge S H Gwalani in the corruption case being probed by the CBI.
He said the "switch" to the Sharad Pawar-led outfit has started in the form of ex-corporators, referring to the resignation of Ajit Pawar-led NCP's Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavhane and two former corporators.
Officials said Deshmukh, 71, was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Dominic Xavier asks if Param Bir Singh's allegations about state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh will bring down the Maharashtra government.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Bharatiya also alleged that Deshmukh had met a drug peddler and Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's aide Chinku Pathan at the Sahyadri state guest house in Mumbai when a strict lockdown was in force.
His latest film Saiyaara is a blockbuster and has propelled him way into the big league.
"Looking at the personas involved and nature of allegations and seriousness of allegations, it requires investigation by an independent agency, the SC said.
He alleged Union Home Minister Amit Shah had directed BJP leaders in a "closed-door" meeting to "stop" him (Uddhav) and Sharad Pawar politically.
'People ask me about my biggest action sequence; this is it, because it involved two giants of Indian cinema.'
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".
After the high court order on April 5, Deshmukh, a veteran politician from Vidarbha, had resigned from the state government.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh on Sunday confirmed that the sensational letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray was sent from his email-id.
