![[File] The top court said an independent probe is required into the matter considering the persons involved and the seriousness of the allegations | Sanjay Ahlawa](https://img.theweek.in/content/dam/week/news/india/images/2019/7/11/supreme-court-crop-file-ahlawat.jpg.image.340.191.jpg "[File] The top court said an independent probe is required into the matter considering the persons involved and the seriousness of the allegations | Sanjay Ahlawa")
In a major setback to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed his plea challenging the Bombay High Court order directing a CBI probe into the corruption allegation against him. The top court also dismissed a similar petition filed by the state government.
The bench of Justices S.K. Kaul and Hemant Gupta said an independent probe is required into the matter considering the persons involved and the seriousness of the allegations.
Deshmukh resigned as the home minister days after former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh, in his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, alleged that the NCP leader had asked police officers, including suspended cop Sachin Vaze, to extort Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants in Mumbai.
The court said that the two persons involved in the case was the police commissioner and the home minister and they were working together till they fall apart.
"Anil Deshmukh did not resign initially. He did so only after the High Court directed a probe. It means the home minister was clinging on to office," the apex court observed.
Earlier, the counsel for Deshmukh, Kapil Sibal, alleged that oral allegations were made without any substance and CBI probe was ordered without hearing him. He argued that court has to stay on guard when allegations are made and probe is sought against a constitutional machinery.
Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing for Maharashtra, said that it was aggrieved by CBI probe as the consent for it was withdrawn by the state earlier.
However, the court rejected their arguments and said: “It is only preliminary enquiry, nothing is wrong in it when serious allegations are made by senior officer against a senior minister.”
The SC order came a day after Vaze, who is in the custody of the National Investigation Agency after being arrested in the Mukesh Ambani security scare case, echoed Singh's allegations against Deshmukh.
In a letter to an NIA court, Vaze claimed Deshmukh had demanded Rs 2 crore from him to continue his service in the Mumbai police and another minister Anil Parab asked him to collect money from some contractors in Mumbai.
