A special court on Friday reserved the default bail application of former state home minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case for order on Tuesday.
The politician had said in his application that the court was yet to take cognizance of the charge sheet filed against him in the case and had extended his custody beyond the 60-day period after arrest. He said in a pre-cognizance stage remand could not be granted beyond a period of 60 days and hence that he is entitled to bail.
The ED had opposed his bail plea and said that such default or statutory bail cannot be considered once the charge sheet has been filed. The charge sheet, it pointed out, was filed on Dec 29, within the 60-day period after Deshmukh’s arrest. The agency said that taking cognizance of the charge sheet is not relevant for default bail. It stated that it is only necessary that the investigation be completed.
The case arose out of allegations by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a letter he wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in March this year. Singh made corruption allegations on Deshmukh in the matter of police transfers and postings as well as extortion of bar and restaurant owners through then policeman Sachin Vaze. The ED had based its probe on the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) corruption case registered in the matter.
