Param Bir Singh was suspended in December 2020
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Thursday transferred the corruption and misconduct cases against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from Mumbai Police to the Central Investigation Agency. All five FIRs against the former top agent will now be investigated by the CBI.
“We believe on the face of it that there is a concerted effort that the investigation by the CBI needs. What is the truth, who is to blame, how does such a scenario come about, that is something that needs to be investigated done. The CBI should conduct an impartial investigation into all these aspects,” it said.
There is a very shady affair amid levels of power over who should investigate, said a bench of judges SK Kaul and MM Sundresh. The court said the “troubling scenario” presented earlier deserves investigation.
“This is not a reflection on Maharashtra’s police force, which is respected, but a disturbing scenario among the upper echelons,” it said.
Param Bir Singh had applied to the highest court to transfer all investigations against him to the main central investigation office of the Maharashtra Police Department.
“Please don’t leave me at the mercy of the state,” Mr Singh appealed to the court, adding that he has never seen a case in which the Home Secretary and the head of the party in power is making a statement to the media that ‘I will fix this officer’.
“We do not want the investigation to be influenced by this court’s observation. The High Court has treated this as a service dispute, which it is not and so we are quashing the HC verdict. We are allowing the appeal and conducting the investigation to 5 FIRs are transferred to the CBI along with all records.
According to the Supreme Court, the state should have offered an investigation.
“Such a transfer must be completed within a week and all officials will fully cooperate with the CBI in trying to find out the truth,” the bank said.
The Maharashtra government had protested the transfer of the case to the CBI saying it would hurt police morale.
“No facts presented to the court can prove that the police did not investigate properly. So far, only baseless allegations have been made,” said Maharashtra’s government counsel.
Param Bir Singh was suspended in December 2020 and the government launched disciplinary proceedings against him for “certain irregularities and forfeiture”.
