'Absconder' notice pasted at ex-Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh's homes

Mumbai, Nov 23 (IANS) A Mumbai court order declaring former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh as 'absconder' was pasted outside his Juhu and Malabar Hill homes on Tuesday, officials said, adding the court order directed him to report before the magistrate.

The development came a day after the Supreme Court granted Singh interim protection from arrest till December 6 and directed him to join the investigations.

On November 18, following a Mumbai Police plea, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM), S.B. Bhajipale of 37th Esplanade Court, had declared Singh as a 'Proclaimed Offender' and ordered him to appear before the court within 30 days.

"Singh is required to appear before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Esplanade, Mumbai or investigating officer to answer the said complaint within 30 days," reads the order issued by the court, pasted on the door of the ex-CoP's flats in the posh suburban Juhu and south Mumbai's Malabar Hill.

The order, signed by ACMM, says a complaint has been made before the court that Singh has committed (or suspected to have committed) offences under sections 384, 386, 388, 389 (all sections relating to extortion), 120-b (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 34 (common intent) of Indian Penal Code.It adds that an arrest warrant has been issued against the accused (Singh) - who has been 'untraceable' for nearly 7 months now - and that he has absconded himself to avoid the service of the arrest warrant to him.

Singh had approached the Supreme Court seeking protection from arrest and other reliefs, after the Bombay High Court on September 16, 2021 dismissed his petition challenging two preliminary inquiries launched against him by the Maharashtra government for alleged violation of service rules and corruption, and directed him to move the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

In their plea, the city police had told the court that despite having issued multiple non-bailable warrants, Singh and two other accused are 'missing' and their existence concealed.

It said that a complaint has been lodged before the Court under various sections of the Indian Penal Code related to extortion and criminal conspiracy, and the court is satisfied that the accused, Singh, has absconded or concealed himself to avoid the service of the warrant.

The former Mumbai police chief faces at least five cases of corruption and extortion, besides a probe by the retired Justice K.U. Chandiwal Commission, in the wake of his letter-bomb accusing the then home minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Anil Deshmukh, currently in judicial custody till next Monday.

Singh, who has been avoiding summonses, bailable and non-bailable warrants of arrest since the past few months, informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that he is not absconding and is present in the country, after which he was granted interim protection from arrest till December 6.

An officer of the 1998 IPS batch, Singh was removed from the post as CoP and promoted as Commandant General, Maharashtra Home Guards, after which he targeted Deshmukh, leading to his resignation and subsequent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.