Picture : Twitter/ ANI
After being granted bail in the money laundering case, former Maharashtra Home minister Anil Deshmukh has said allegations against him were baseless and unsupported by evidence.
“Param Bir Singh (then Mumbai Police commissioner), in an affidavit submitted in court, stated that the accusations made against me were based on hearsay, and that he had no evidence against me,” Deshmukh told reporters on Wednesday.
The former sate Home minister walked free after all formalities for his release were completed and sureties furnished. Deshmukh’s advocate Aniket Nikam said the CBI had moved another application on Tuesday, seeking an extension or stay on the order granting him bail.
However, the prayer was rejected by the high court, he added. Among the bail conditions imposed by the HC is that Deshmukh cannot leave Mumbai without the prior approval of the trial court and must cooperate with the investigation.
As per ANI report, Deshmukh was granted a conditional bail by the Bombay High Court on December 12, on a bond of Rs 1 lakh. The CBI had filed an application for a stay order to challenge the order in the Supreme Court. The HC granted a stay on its order for 10 days, which was later extended till December 27.
However, on Tuesday, the plea for a further extension of the bail order was rejected by the high court
The 73-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader was greeted by senior leaders of his party as he walked out of Mumbai’s Arthur Road prison around 4.45 pm. On Tuesday.
“I have full faith in the judiciary….the high court has observed that I was implicated in a false case,” Deshmukh said, as NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil, Supriya Sule, Dilip Walse-Patil and Chhagan Bhujbal besides hordes of party workers welcomed him.
Referring to dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, Deshmukh said the ED and CBI based their cases against him on the allegations made 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.
