Police not expected to act on home min’s instructions to perform illegal acts: Court

Mumbai: Observing that a responsible police officer is expected to act within the ambit of the law and not on the instructions of home minister to perform illegal activities, a special court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by dismissed cop Sachin Waze to drop proceedings in a money laundering case involving former state home minister Anil Deshmukh. "He is not a layman. As argued on behalf of the prosecution, he crossed limits. Admittedly, extorting money, involving in generating illegal money and to possess illegal money itself amounts to an illegal act, which cannot come within the purview of official act," said special judge Mahesh K Jadhav.
Waze had moved the court seeking to drop the charges, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction because the state government had not granted mandatory sanction to prosecute him as a public servant. The judge, however, noted that sanction for prosecuting a public servant was required only for the acts reasonably connected to official duties and not illegal personal acts. Rejecting Waze's arguments, the judge further said that "it appears from the record that prima facie case is made out against the applicant for framing charge and court is having jurisdiction to try and entertain the case. The application is not tenable in the eye of law." The case was based on allegations that Waze, while heading the Crime Intelligence Unit, collected approximately Rs 4.70 crore from various bar and restaurant owners between Dec 2020 and Feb 2021.According to the prosecution, these funds were allegedly extorted at the instruction of Anil Deshmukh and handed over to his personal assistant.The judge said Waze himself admitted that he did not have jurisdiction over the Social Service Branch which was overseeing the illegal activities of bars and restaurants, yet, he extorted, handled and handed over money for the home minister. Refuting Waze's arguments that he was only handling the money and not involved in its laundering, the judge said, "…it is necessary to state that mere possession of the proceeds of the crime was sufficient to invoke the provisions of PMLA…"