Won’t arrest ex-CP till May 20 over atrocities FIR: Mah Govt
   Date :14-May-2021

Police Param Bir Singh_1&
 
 
MUMBAI :
 
 
THE Maharashtra Government on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that it would not arrest former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh till May 20 in connection with the FIR registered against him by Thane police under the Atrocities Act. Senior counsel Darius Khambata, appearing for the State Government, told a division bench of Justices P B Varale and N R Borkar that the allegations of corruption levelled against Singh by a police inspector in Akola were of serious nature. He said the police would not arrest Singh till May 20, by when the police would file an affidavit in response to Singh’s plea against the FIR. The FIR was registered on April 30 and an investigation into the case has commenced.
 
The police want time to file an affidavit to the petition. “Till that time, we (police) will not arrest the petitioner (Singh),” he said. The bench accepted the statement and posted the matter for further hearing on May 20. The HC noted that the alleged incident took place in 2015 and the complaint was filed in 2021. “It took the complainant five years to lodge a complaint,” the court said. Singh approached the HC last week, sought that the FIR against him be quashed. His counsel Mahesh Jethmalani on Thursday argued that the case was filed with malafide intentions and was abuse of powers by the police.
 
“It is a completely misconceived FIR and protection should be given to the petitioner (Singh),” Jethmalani said. The FIR was based on a complaint lodged by police inspector Bhimrao Ghadge posted at Akola in Maharashtra. Ghadge in his complaint had made a series of allegations of corruption against Singh and other officers, during the period when Singh was posted with the Thane police.