"Such Petitions Are Filed For Cheap Publicity" – Bombay High Court Pulls Up Petitioner Over Plea Seeking Probe Against Param Bir Singh And Anil Deshmukh

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday observed that prima facie the petition filed by practising advocate Dr Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil seeking a CBI inquiry into allegations of corruption against State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and others are done for "cheap publicity." "Prima facie we are of the opinion that such petitions are filed for cheap publicity," Justice SS Shinde, heading the division bench said while hearing the plea. The bench came down heavily on Patil the moment the hearing began, citing a shoddily drafted petition. "You say you are a doctorate in criminology but please show us a single paragraph drafted by you. Your entire petition is based on extracting paragraphs from a letter," the bench observed. The court added that the contents of Patil's petition were primarily based on the letter former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has written to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray, making serious allegations of corruption against the State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. "What is your contribution[ to the petition]? What are your original pleadings? What is your locus?" the bench asked the petitioner. Justice Shinde then asked why was the extraordinary jurisdiction of the Court invoked, to which Patil responded that she had not invoked the court's extraordinary jurisdiction, only to realise her folly a couple of seconds later. Regarding her locus, Patil said she had first approached the police with a complaint but no action was taken. Moreover, she was an intervenor when Singh approached the Supreme Court. The court then asked Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni the status of Patil's complaint. "The complaint is pending, but it's a very shoddily drafted petition. Even the font size is different. I want to read a few Supreme Court judgements on this aspect." The bench sought to know if other petitions are pending on the same issue, to which the AG informed the court that a division bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta will hear Param Bir Singh's PIL tomorrow. "There are other petitions, as well," the AG submitted. The bench then suggested that the AG may apply for clubbing of the other pending writ petitions to avoid contradictory orders and posted the matter for hearing, on Thursday. Background Patil approached the Bombay High Court on March 23, seeking an investigation into Param Bir Singh's letter by CBI, ED or any other independent agency. She has said that the investigation should also be conducted against Param Bir Singh, as well, considering he was the Mumbai Police Commissioner for a year but failed to bring such a heinous crime forward. Two other similar petitions are pending for an independent probe into the corruption and extortion allegation. One of them, a Pune based activist has sought an FIR And court-monitored probe against Maharashtra's Chief Minister, Home Minister and Param Bir Singh.

"Such Petitions Are Filed For Cheap Publicity" – Bombay High Court Pulls Up Petitioner Over Plea Seeking Probe Against Param Bir Singh And Anil Deshmukh

Sharmeen Hakim

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