CBI conspiracy to override IO report in Deshmukh case: Cong; seeks SC probe

The Congress on Sunday claimed the Investigation Officer (IO) of the CBI had found no role of former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in the allegations of collecting Rs 100 crore raised by ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and closed the inquiry but the Central agency "overrode" the report as part of a "conspiracy".

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant has demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the "conspiracy" by the CBI to "override" the report of the IO. He also said Union Home Minister Amit Shah should "take the responsibility and resign immediately".

An FIR was registered against Deshmukh and some unidentified persons on April 24 this year on charges of corruption and misconduct following a preliminary enquiry (PE) that the CBI conducted in compliance with the high court's order.

Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked some police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Deshmukh resigned in April after the PE was ordered but denied the allegations.

"The Investigation Officer of the CBI in the PE had concluded that there is no role of Anil Deshmukh ji in the so called Rs 100 cr collection allegation by former CP Parambir Singh and had closed the inquiry," Sawant tweeted.

"We demand an SC-monitored inquiry into this conspiracy to find out at whose behest the CBI changed its stand by overriding the report of the IO (Investigation Officer)? The HC had only asked for a Preliminary Enquiry (against Deshmukh) but filing an FIR by misguiding the high court is a huge crime of the CBI," he said in another tweet.

Deshmukh, a senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, had said the ongoing CBI inquiry against him was illegal since the central agency had not taken prior sanction from the Maharashtra government to prosecute him.

Sawant said this is a "clear example as to how these agencies have become political weapons of the Modi government to target their opponents".

"Even courts misguided, rules are bent, inquiries kept unending. Such conspiracies happen only in Autocracy. High time Entire nation comes together in saving our democracy," Sawant alleged.

He said a "conspiracy" by the Modi government to target Anil Deshmukh and "defame" the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi), of which the Congress is one of the constituents, has been exposed.

NCP national spokesman and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik demanded the CBI clarify the "exact status" of the Anil Deshmukh case.

"The CBI document which has given a clean chit to Deshmukh is doing rounds on social media and is in several newspapers today. This is a serious issue, and if the document is true, there can't be a more serious political vendetta than this," he told reporters on Sunday.