Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh Suspended From Maharashtra Police Force
The Maharashtra Home Department suspended Ex- Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh currently holding office as Director General Home Guards from the Maharashtra Police force for "irregularities and lapses.""In exercise of power conferred under the All India Services (Disciple and Appeal) Rules, 1969, the Government of Maharashtra hereby places Parambir Singh under suspension...
The Maharashtra Home Department suspended Ex- Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh currently holding office as Director General Home Guards from the Maharashtra Police force for "irregularities and lapses."
"In exercise of power conferred under the All India Services (Disciple and Appeal) Rules, 1969, the Government of Maharashtra hereby places Parambir Singh under suspension with immediate effect from the date of this order, until further order," the document states.
DCP Parag Manere has also been suspended. Chief Home Minister Uddhav Thackeray cleared the file earlier today. The DGP, the chief of the Maharashtra Police Force will serve the suspension order on Singh.
Singh was transferred out of the Mumbai police Commissionerate on March 17, 2021 and posted as Director General Home Guards due to lapses pertaining to the investigation in the Ambani terror scare case and the arrest of dismissed API Sachin Waze, who was it's first investigator.
Three days after his transfer, Singh wrote a letter to the Chief Minister, alleging that the then Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had asked Waze and two other officers to illegally collect Rs 100 crore from bar owners every month for him. Deshmukh is in prison pursuant to several investigations initiated after this letter.
At least 5 extortion FIRs have been registered against Singh by the Maharashtra police since then.
Singh returned to the city last week, after the Supreme Court granted him protection from arrest and directed him to join the investigation. In the previous hearings, the court refused to entertain his plea till the time he did not disclose his whereabouts as he was untraceable for over six months.
On Thursday, the Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate's Court withdrew its order of proclamation declaring Param Bir Singh, former Police Commissioner an "absconder" in one of the five extortion cases being probed by the Mumbai Police against him.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sudhir Bhajipale observed that Singh was already granted interim relief by an order of the Supreme Court and had joined the investigation after his return to Mumbai.
With this order Singh has managed to get all three NBWs issued against him, cancelled. The two other order were for cases registered by the Marine Drive and Thane police.
Singh was declared a proclaimed absconder under section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code by the court last week after he repeatedly failed to appear for investigation, following which a non-bailable warrant was issued against him.
The warrant issued against Singh pertained to an FIR registered at Mumbai's Goregaon police station. The complaint filed by a builder-cum-hotelier Bimal Agrawal Agarwal alleged extortion of Rs 9 lakh by Singh "for not conducting raids on two bars and restaurants in which he was a partner." Citing the period of alleged offence as January 2020 to March 2021, the complaint further alleges that Singh forced Jalan to buy two smartphones worth around Rs 2.92 lakh.
Other accused named in the FIR include now dismissed Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Waze, one Sumit Singh alias Chintu, Alpesh Patel, Vinay Singh alias Bablu, and Riyaz Bhati.
The Mumbai Police's CID Unit 11 opposed Singh's prayers for relief. Special Public Prosecutor Shekhar Jagtap argued that neither Singh nor his counsel has signed on the application which demonstrates their "callous" attitude towards the investigating agency and court.
Moreover, the proclamation should not be withdrawn till the next hearing in Supreme Court on December 6.
The state argued that "merely because Applicant(Param Bir) has appeared does not nullify the fact that the proclamation was issued because he has been absconding and wilfully concealing himself, same has been accepted by him before Hon'ble Supreme Court as well that he will come out of his hiding if he is protected and accordingly he appeared. Thus, it is crystal clear that Applicant, who has been very well aware of the present FIR and proceedings against him, has intentionally and wilfully absconded as well as concealed himself from the Hon'ble Court and investigation agency. Thus, cannot be cancelled."
The Terms of suspension are:
1. Singh is not permitted to take up any other employment, business, vocation or profession.
2. He will be attached to the office of DGP Maharashtra during his suspension.
3. Singh will not be permitted to accept any private employment or engage in any other trade or business during the suspension.
4. Any breach of this condition shall be treated as an act of misconduct rendering him liable for disciplinary action.