Money laundering case: Ex-Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh released from Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail after 1 year

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on 28 December was released from Mumbai's Arthur Road jail after Bombay High Court refused to stay his bail in corruption case.

The 73-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 2, 2021. The ED’s money-laundering case, registered on May 11 last year, was based on the FIR registered by the CBI on April 21.

"I have full faith in the judiciary....the high court has observed that I was implicated in a false case," Deshmukh said, as senior NCP leaders including Ajit Pawar welcomed him outside the jail.

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Earlier on Tuesday, a single-judge vacation bench of justice S G Chapalgaonkar was informed by the CBI counsel, Shreeram Shirsat, that the agency had on December 16 filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court opposing the bail order.

Though it had not been able to get a hearing since the apex court was on vacation, he said, and requested the HC to continue the stay till the SC reopened, reported Hindustan Times.

Appearing for Deshmukh, advocate Aniket Nikam opposed the plea and said though the order allowing his release was passed on 12 December, the agency waited till 16 December - the last working day of the top court - to file the SLP.

Nikam further said a single-judge bench of justice M S Karnik first granted a 10-day stay on the effect of the bail order and then an extension till December 27.

The liberty of an individual could be jeopardised through such extensions, he said and referred to justice Karnik’s December 21 observations: “It is made clear that no further request [for extension] under any circumstances will be entertained.”

The HC accepted Nikam’s arguments, and rejected the CBI’s plea.

Former city police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a letter to then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and others on 20 March, 2021, alleged that Deshmukh had instructed certain police officers, including dismissed assistant inspector Sachin Waze, to collect ₹100 crore every month from the owners of bars and restaurants.

The CBI had formally arrested Deshmukh on 6 April 2022, and filed a charge sheet against him on 12 July. The HC had on 4 October granted the NCP leader bail in the money-laundering case but he continued to remain in Arthur Road jail in connection with the CBI case.