[BREAKING] Bombay High Court dismisses plea by former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh to quash CBI FIR against him

The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh (Anil Deshmukh v. Central Bureau of Investigation & Ors.)..A Bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar held that for reasons given in detail in the order, the petition deserves to be dismissed..While reserving the plea for judgment on July 12, the Bench had directed CBI to submit its report on the investigation conducted so far. The Court on Thursday directed the Registrar General to return the investigation papers back to CBI. .Senior Advocate Amit Desai appearing for Deshmukh prayed for a stay on the effect of the order as it involved important questions of law which require to be studied for taking appropriate steps. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for CBI opposed the request stating that no question of law was involved. Observing that no substantial question of law involved, the Court opined that no stay would be necessary..Deshmukh had assailed the FIR filed against him by the CBI for offences of corruption and criminal conspiracy, on the ground that the agency had failed to obtain requisite sanction prior to registering the FIR, as he was a public servant at the time of registering offence.He was refused interim relief when his petition was listed for interim hearing..Seeking quashing of the FIR, Desai submitted that CBI had failed to obtain 'previous approval' mandated under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act from Maharashtra government before commencing their court-ordered preliminary enquiry making the entire enquiry illegal. He stated that CBI had a duty to apply for permission to the State because the allegation could have easily been a false allegation..Relying upon Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, Desai argued that CBI was required to take consent from the Maharashtra government after completing the PE and before filing the FIR..Desai submitted that in the present case, the Court had permitted the enquiry on Dr. Jaishri Patil's complaint which referred to letter written by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh merely to Instil confidence in the State government.He explained that both documents which were relied upon by the Court did not contain first hand information which was necessary to consider initiating investigation. He said that what the documents contained were mere suspicions, whispers and allegations. .Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi appearing for CBI opposed the petition. He argued that through the present plea, the former Home Minister was trying to revisit the order directing preliminary enquiry. He submitted that this order was affirmed by the Supreme Court as well. Lekhi argued that the allegations being investigated into were not hearsay as the information had travelled from Deshmukh to Mumbai cop Sachin Waze who was allegedly directed to extort money who allegedly informed about the same to the then Mumbai Police Commissioner, Param Bir Singh. .Lekhi also submitted that the requirement of sanction under Section 17A was deemed unnecessary the moment the Court ordered the enquiry based on a thorough consideration of the material before it. Section 17A could not be used as a shield to protect a wrongdoer, Lekhi submitted. On the query of the Court on why there was none else named in the FIR yet, Lekhi responded that CBI was aware that there were more individuals involved, which is why the offence of conspiracy under Section 120B was added. .After hearing the counsel for over 3 days, the Court had reserved the plea for verdict on July 12, 2021..[Read judgment]