Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has alleged that the Eknath Shinde-led state government dropped charges against retired IPS officer Param Bir Singh as a reward for maligning the image of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
State government dropped the charges against Singh, a former Mumbai police commissioner, following a ruling by the Central Administrative Tribunal.
Patole alleged that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and state Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis deliberately weakened the case and ensured that the IPS officer would walk free on technical grounds. Singh defamed the MVA government of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress by accusing the then home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption.
Bombay High Court had given clear instructions to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR against Singh following a probe, and a departmental inquiry was also expected, the Congress leader said. But the Shinde-Fadnavis government did nothing and ensured Singh’s suspension order would not get an extension, he alleged.
An official last Friday said the Maharashtra government has dropped all charges brought during a departmental enquiry against Singh and revoked the suspension order against him. Singh was transferred from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner in March 2021 after the arrest of assistant police inspector Sachin Waze by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the seizure of an explosives-laden SUV from near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia in south Mumbai.