SC GRANTS PARAM BIR SINGH INTERIM PROTECTION FROM ARREST

As the former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh told the Supreme Court on Monday that he was very much in the country and was not absconding, the top court granted him interim protection from arrest and directed him to join the investigation.

A Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked Singh to join the investigation and issued notices to the Maharashtra government and CBI on Singh’s plea. The apex court now posted the case for hearing on 6 December. Singh’s counsel told the Bench that the former police chief was ready to appear before CBI within 48 hours and needed some protection. At the outset, senior advocate Puneet Bali appearing for Singh told the Bench, “Instructions received. He is very much in the country. The discussion is the moment he touched Maharashtra there is a threat to his life.” To this, the Bench said, “You (Singh) say I have a threat to life with Bombay Police. What hope for other people?”

The apex court also expressed concern over the ongoing fight between former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and Param Bir Singh saying the matter had become “curiouser and curiouser”. “We find it very disturbing… Wonder what would happen to a common man. The matter has become curiouser and curiouser in the battle between the then Home Minister and the (former) Police Commissioner,” the Bench said.