Bail in PMLA cases cannot be ground to release Deshmukh in corruption case: CBI to HC

Last month, Deshmukh had approached the HC seeking regular bail in the CBI case after the special court rejected his bail application.
Special CBI judge S H Gwalani, in the judgment last month, had said that the offences alleged in the case are serious and “affect the economy of the nation”. The court also said that the statement of accused-turned-approver, dismissed police officer Sachin Waze, plays an important role at the stage of bail and cannot be overlooked.

Challenging the special CBI court order, Deshmukh, in his plea, claimed that the trial court erred in refusing bail to him and that its order was mere “cut, copy and paste job” of contents in CBI chargesheet. It added that the “approach adopted in the trial court order was perverse” and while the high court had considered his medical status while deciding his bail plea in the Enforcement Directorate case, the trial court overlooked the same.

The central agency, in its affidavit filed through its Deputy Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar, said that there are serious allegations against Deshmukh regarding corruption, extortion and criminal conspiracy, and grant of bail in PMLA case cannot be “fait accompli” to enlarge him on bail in the present case by CBI.

The central agency further said statements of Waze recorded under the PMLA could not be equated with his statements recorded before the magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in the CBI case.

The CBI affidavit read: “In the order of the High Court granting bail to the applicant in PMLA case, the probative value of statement of Waze is discussed in capacity of a co-accused whereas in the present (corruption) case, he had been granted pardon and therefore ceases to be an accused and now is a prosecution witness.”

Further, it denied Deshmukh’s claim that money laundering case was an offshoot of the CBI case and said that same was “separate and distinct offence” under the Prevention of Corruption Act and must be considered in that perspective.

On Friday, when the plea was mentioned before Justice Bharati H Dangre, the judge recused herself from the case. The case will be mentioned before a bench of Justice Sandeep K Shinde in due course.

Earlier, on October 4, a single-judge bench of Justice N J Jamadar of the Bombay High Court had granted Deshmukh bail in a money-laundering case filed by the ED. The high court had observed that prima facie reliance could not be placed on Waze’s statement.

The ED probe into Deshmukh’s financial transactions is in line with a CBI probe into former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh’s allegations of corruption against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader. The CBI initiated a preliminary probe based on the April 5, 2021 high court order and registered an FIR on April 21, 2021.