The Supreme Court has granted protection to former Mumbai police officer Param Bir Singh from arrest in an alleged racketeering case. The court ordered Param Bir Singh to join the investigation.
At the final hearing, the Supreme Court said he would not grant his request for protection from arrest until his whereabouts were known. During a hearing on Monday, lawyer of Param Bir Singh said he had “very much” in the country.
“He doesn’t want to abscond. He doesn’t want to run away. The issue, however, is that there is a very genuine threat to his life as soon as he enters Maharashtra,” the lawyer added. Param Bir Singh is ready to appear before any CBI employee within 48 hours if the court so requests, the former police officer’s adviser said.
Param’s lawyer, who insisted on detaining him on Monday, said on his behalf, “I don’t want to give the impression that I did anything wrong. I have complete trust in the judiciary. Please let me. I am the highest ranking cop, I will not run away.”
He also claims that the “bet and blackmail” he took action during his current tenure is filing a complaint against him. “What can I expect from the Maharashtra government after that?” he asked.
“If every person I have taken action against starts registering complaints against me, what am I and my colleagues expected to do?” Param Bir Singh’s counsel added.
He claimed the current director general of the Maharashtra Police Department asked him to withdraw his letter if he wanted his safety. In March this year, Param Bir Singh wrote to CM Uddhav Thackery in Maharashtra alleging that former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh asked slain policeman Sachin Vase to collect 100 rupees every month from a shop in Mumbai.
After hearing the arguments on Monday, the Supreme Court said: The matter became even more curious in the battle between the then interior minister and the police commissioner in Mumbai.
