Param Bir Singh was rewarded for slandering MVA govt: Cong state chief

Patole alleged that CM Eknath Shinde and HM Devendra Fadnavis "deliberately weakened the case and ensured that the IPS officer would walk free on technical grounds."

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday alleged that the Eknath Shinde-led state government dropped the charges against retired IPS officer Param Bir Singh as a reward for maligning the image of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The state government dropped the charges against Singh, a former Mumbai police commissioner, following a ruling by the Central Administrative Tribunal. Speaking to reporters here, Patole alleged that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and home minister Devendra Fadnavis "deliberately weakened the case and ensured that the IPS officer would walk free on technical grounds."

Singh defamed the MVA government of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress by accusing the then home minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, Patole said. The Bombay High Court had given clear instructions to the CBI to register an FIR against Singh following a probe, and a departmental inquiry was also expected, the Congress leader said.

But the Shinde-Fadnavis government did nothing and ensured that Singh's suspension order would not get an extension, he alleged.