Maharashtra government drops all charges against former top cop Param Bir Singh

All charges against former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh have been dropped by the Maharashtra government. The state administration also overturned the suspension orders from December 2021, and ordered the suspension period to be treated as ‘on duty’. As per the order, the period of the retired IPS officer’s suspension should be treated as he was on duty.

In 2021, the Maharashtra government initiated a departmental investigation on Singh. Maharashtra Home Department said eight charges were applied in the present departmental proceedings against Singh.

The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra had suspended Param Bir Singh for “indiscipline and other irregularities”. 

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Singh had appealed to the highest court following the Bombay High Court's September 16, 2021 decision dismissing his arguments against the two inquiries orders issued by the State Home Ministry for allegedly breaking service rules and the second over allegations of corruption as unsustainable.

On March 17, 2021, Singh, an IPS officer from the 1988 batch, was removed from his position as Mumbai Police Commissioner and appointed to General Commander of the Maharashtra State Home Guard after making accusations against the then-state home minister, Anil Deshmukh.

Param Bir Singh, a former commissioner of the Mumbai Police who was relieved of his duties, said that then-Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had instructed suspended Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore for him each month. These accusations were made by Param Bir Singh in a letter to Uddhav Thackeray, the then-chief minister of Maharashtra. 

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Anil Deshmukh refuted these allegations and asserted that Param Bir Singh was attempting to avoid prosecution for poor security outside businessman Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai home, which led to a bomb threat on February 25, 2021.