The Bombay High Court on Friday adjourned hearing on a plea filed by former police chief Param Bir Singh to quash the Thane police’s first information reports against him under the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe (Atrocities Prevention) Act, Live Law reported.

The court suspended the hearing till October 20. The Maharashtra government said it will not arrest Singh till October 21.

The Thane police has registered five FIRs under the SC/ST Act, the Civil Rights Protection Act and the Maharashtra Police Act against Singh and 32 others based on a complaint from Police Inspector Bhimrao Ghadge.

Advertisement

Ghadge, alleged that Singh, while he was posted as the Thane police chief in 2015, had asked him not to chargesheet certain individuals against whom FIRs were registered. Ghagde also alleged that he was suspended for refusing to follow Singh’s orders.

He had subsequently approached the State Human Rights Commission against Singh, but was not granted relief. In 2018, he approached the Bombay High Court.

In response, Singh had said that the Maharashtra government was pursuing the cases to pressure him into withdrawing his corruption allegations against former State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

Advertisement

Singh has accused Deshmukh of extorting money from owners of bars, restaurants and hookah parlours in Mumbai. The former state minister had denied the accusations, but resigned from the Cabinet on April 5 after the Bombay High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the allegations.

The Maharashtra Police have also filed a total of four extortion cases against Singh. Two of these cases have been filed in Mumbai, while the other two have been filed in the neighbouring Thane district.

The most recent of these cases was filed at the Goregaon police station on August 20 following a complaint by a 48-year-old businessman identified as Bimal Agarwal.

As of Thursday, the Maharashtra government was searching for Singh. State Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said that “was not a good thing” if Singh had left the country, amid reports that he may have fled to Russia.