The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a first information report against Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh for allegedly trying to frame Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in false cases, NDTV reported on Wednesday.
In 2022, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who was then the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, had given a pen drive to the Assembly speaker containing purported audio and visual evidence of the charges against Deshmukh.
After this, the Central Bureau of Investigation began a preliminary inquiry. A case was registered after nearly two years of the investigation on July 31, according to NDTV.
According to the first information report, the prima facie findings of the inquiry said that Special Public Prosecutor Pravin Pandit Chavan conspired with a man named Vijay Bhaskarrao Patil, who acted as the complainant, and Deshmukh to file a zero FIR on December 9, 2020 at the Nimbhora Jalgaon police station, The Indian Express reported.
This zero FIR was related to a two-year-old incident in Pune “to falsely implicate BJP leaders and others to wrest control of the Jalgaon Zilla Maratha Vidhya Prasarak Sahakari Samaj Limited [educational institution],” the Central Bureau of Investigation has alleged.
“Later, the zero FIR was transferred to Pune and registered on January 5, 2021,” the investigating agency added in its first information report, according to The Indian Express.
Chavan and Patil, along with former Deputy Commissioner of Police Poornima Gaikwad and Assistant Commissioner of Police Sushma Chavan – who were also named in the FIR – fabricated the statements of witnesses and tampered with evidence to “falsely implicate the BJP leaders and other innocent persons,” the central agency claimed.
In a post on X, Deshmukh called the allegations “baseless”, adding that the “conspiracy has started after the sand fell under the feet of Fadnavis after seeing the opinion of the public”.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader added: “I do not begrudge such threats and pressure at all.” He said that “people should see how low level and perverted mentality dirty politics is being done by Fadnavis” in the state.
“In Lok Sabha elections, the people have shown this conspiracy leadership its place, now the people of Maharashtra are waiting for the Assembly elections,” he said.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Congress are part of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition in the Mahashtra, where Assembly polls are expected to take place later this year.
The parties are also members of the INDIA bloc at the national level.
In July, Deshmukh claimed that in 2021, Fadnavis pressured him to file false affidavits against four Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders in an attempt to destabilise the state government at the time.
Deshmukh claimed that he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate after he refused to comply with Fadnavis’ request.
The former state home minister was arrested in November 2021 after he was booked in a corruption case by the Enforcement Directorate. He was also booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation in April 2022. He was granted bail in December 2022.
He had stepped down from his post as home minister in April 2021.
The cases against Deshmukh relate to accusations made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, who had written in March 2021 to Uddhav Thackeray, the chief minister at the time, alleging that Deshmukh had asked some officers to extort Rs 100 crore every month from bars and restaurants in the city.
In June 2022, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde revolted and split the party, taking away 41 MLAs and 13 MPs. This led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, with Shinde becoming the chief minister with the BJP’s support.
In July 2023, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar also rebelled, leading to a split within the party. Ajit Pawar took 41 MLAs and one of the two party MPs with him to join the BJP-Shinde alliance. He was then appointed the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!