Atrocities case: Won't arrest Param Bir Singh till July 3: Maha govt to HC

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court it would not arrest senior IPS officer Param Bir Singh till July 3 in a case registered against him under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Senior counsel Darius Khambata, appearing for the state government, said his earlier statement, that the police would not arrest the former Mumbai police commissioner, shall continue till July 3.

A division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar posted a petition filed by Singh, seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him on a complaint of police inspector Bhimrao Ghadge, for hearing on July 2. On that day, the court would also hear another petition filed by the senior IPS officer challenging two enquiries set up against him by the state government. The first enquiry order of April 1 was passed by the then state home minister Anil Deshmukh for alleged violation of some All India Services (Conduct) Rules by the senior bureaucrat.

The second order of April 20 was issued by the current home minister (Dilip Walse Patil) over allegations of corruption levelled against Singh. The FIR registered under the Atrocities Act against Singh is based on the complaint filed by police inspector Ghadge, currently posted at Akola in eastern Maharashtra. Ghadge made a series of allegations of corruption against Singh and other officers when the top cop was posted in Thane as police commissioner. In the FIR, now transferred to the Thane, Ghadge alleged that Singh pressured him to drop the names of some persons from a case and when he refused, the IPS officer framed him in false cases. The FIR was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (the complainant belongs to an SC community).