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A Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundaresh today deemed that the investigation in the matter pertaining to former Mumbai top cop Parambir Singh is a “messy affair.” The bench further said, “Very unfortunate situation, it has the possibility to shake the confidence of people in the police system. The process of law must carry on.”

The Supreme Court was hearing the petition filed by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh seeking protection from coercive steps by Mumbai Police in the cases registered against him.  Earlier, the Court had granted protection to former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from being arrested. The Court had also directed Singh to join the investigation.

On the last date of hearing, the State of Maharashtra informed the court that the they had filed a plea challenging the order of Bombay High Court which referred the investigation pertaining to Singh to CBI. The court today noted that the State had not put in any effort to get the matter listed before the court even after a month.

Puneet Bali, Sr.Adv, appearing for Singh submitted that there has been a deliberate attempt not to get the SLP listed and Maharashtra has approached the High Court for quashing of the FIR filed by CBI. Darius Khambatta, Sr. Adv, appearing for Maharashtra submitted that the SLP has been filed however it could not be listed.

Bali further submitted that the Maharashtra had approached the High Court again to quash the CBI investigation on the ground that the Director has a conflict of interest in the investigation. He further submitted that while challans have been filed against accused, it has not been filed against Singh.

The court on hearing the parties noted that on 11th January, it had deferred the  consideration in the present case to know of the court’s view in the State’s SLP challenging referral to CBI.

The matter has not come up despite the lapse of over a month. The counsels state that the SLP is in a limited domain and it may not have a bearing. The court noted that the matter be listed on 9th March for final consideration and till then noted Khambatta’s undertaking that further investigation will be put on hold.

Case title: Param Bir Singh Vs State of Maharashtra