Mumbai: Former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh, who was recently released on conditional bail in a corruption case, on Monday appeared before the ED in Mumbai, sources said. Deshmukh, who was released on conditional bail on December 28, has to appear before the ED office for two months. Deshmukh was lodged at Arthur road jail in Mumbai for over a year on charges of corruption and money laundering.
On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court refused to further stay its order granting him bail in a corruption case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Speaking to the media on his release, Deshkmukh said he has full faith in the judiciary saying the High Court has “observed that I was implicated in a false case”.
Also read: Former Maha minister Anil Deshmukh walks out of prison after spending more than one year behind bars
Referring to dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, Deshmukh said the ED and CBI based their cases against him on the allegations levelled by an officer, who had been suspended after his name cropped up in the case related to the explosives-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's south Mumbai residence.
Deshmukh was first arrested by the ED on November 2, 2021, in an alleged money-laundering case. It was based on a First Information Report registered by the CBI in an alleged corruption case on April 21, 2021. Earlier, in a letter to the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on March 20, 2021, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh had instructed certain police officers, including dismissed police officer Waze, to collect Rs 100 crore every month from the owners of bars and restaurants in the city.
Deshmukh refuted the allegations, but stepped down as Home Minister as the Bombay High Court directed the CBI to start a preliminary inquiry against him. The CBI formally arrested Deshmukh on April 6, 2022, and filed a charge sheet against him on July 12.
