Probe Agency Gets Governor's Approval To Prosecute Maharashtra Ex-Minister

Please seeProbe Agency Gets Governor's Approval To Prosecute Maharashtra Ex-MinisterThe Enforcement Directorate, or ED, has secured the Governor's approval to prosecute Maharashtra's former home minister Anil Deshmukh in the alleged "Rs 100-crore extortion case".The central agency, which investigates financial crimes, submitted a letter to a special court in Mumbai on Monday, stating that it had received the permission on May 21 from the Governor to prosecute the ex-minister, who belongs to the Sharad Pawar's party, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).In a letter to the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray in March 2021, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh had set a monthly 'collection' target of Rs 100 crore for police officials. Deshmukh, who denied the allegations, resigned after the Bombay High Court ordered a preliminary CBI inquiry.In April, Deshmukh requested the Maharashtra Governor to direct the state government to make public the final report of the Chandiwal Commission which probed the allegations levelled against him by the former Mumbai police commissioner.In a letter to governor Jishnu Dev Varma, Deshmukh, a former state home minister, said the government had not released the report even four years after receiving it.The state government had appointed the commission headed by retired Bombay High Court judge Justice KU Chandiwal to investigate the allegations related to the "Rs 100-crore extortion case", he said.The commission submitted its 1400-page final report on April 26, 2022, Deshmukh stated in the letter to the governor.He had written 11 letters to the chief minister seeking publication of the report and also written to the chief secretary and secretaries of the concerned departments, he said.The commission's conclusions, observations and recommendations were directly related to the allegations against him and concerned his public and personal rights, the NCP (SP) leader added."If the government appoints a commission to investigate allegations against an individual, but subsequently conceals the report from that individual and the public, it would severely undermine faith in the judicial system," he said.Deshmukh also sought to know what action the government had taken on the commission's findings, and why the report was not tabled before the state legislature.He requested the governor to direct the state government to publish the complete report, and examine the reasons behind the delay in making it public.