Mumbai: Former home minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday left for Delhi to seek legal opinion and later file a petition in the Supreme Court against the ongoing inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED’s probe is in connection with the money laundering case against Deshmukh, following corruption charges leveled by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh against him.
It is learnt that Deshmukh may also challenge the CBI FIR in a corruption case. Deshmukh has already claimed that the CBI FIR is arbitrary and illegal as the central investigating agency bypassed procedures by not availing prior nod from the state government to probe a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sources in Deshmukh’s family told Free Press Journal that the NCP leader will “consult with his lawyers and later take a call to file a petition in the SC against the ongoing investigation by the ED”. They, however, declined to divulge details.
Deshmukh’s move comes on a day when the ED has issued fresh summons for appearance on July 5. The 72-year-old politician had skipped the earlier summons citing “vulnerability” to Covid-19 as one of the reasons for non-compliance.
