The Enforcement Directorate has secured the Maharashtra Governor's sanction to prosecute former state home minister Anil Deshmukh in a Rs 100-crore extortion-linked money laundering case, clearing the way for his trial to proceed, NDTV reported.
The case stems from allegations first made in 2021 by then Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, who accused Deshmukh of fixing a monthly collection target of Rs 100 crore for suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, to be extorted from bars and restaurants across the city.
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Acting on Bombay High Court orders, the CBI opened a corruption inquiry into the allegations, after which the ED registered its own money laundering case, alleging that the proceeds were funnelled into a Nagpur-based educational trust run by the Deshmukh family under the guise of donations.
Deshmukh, who quit as home minister in April 2021 as the allegations mounted, was arrested by the ED that November and by the CBI the following April.
He spent nearly a year in custody before being granted bail in both cases, and has maintained throughout that the charges against him are baseless.
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Under Indian law, prosecuting a public servant on corruption-linked charges typically requires prior sanction from the competent authority, in this case, the Governor. That approval, now granted, marks a significant procedural milestone, allowing the case to advance to trial after years in the investigative pipeline.
The development has reignited political sparring in Maharashtra, with the BJP renewing its attacks on the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader even as the Congress faced counter-questions over its own past handling of the issue.
Deshmukh, a senior aide to NCP chief Sharad Pawar, continues to wield influence within the Maha Vikas Aghadi camp.
His legal team is expected to contest the sanction or seek relief before trial proceedings formally commence. Neither the ED nor Deshmukh's office has issued an official statement on the Governor's approval so far.
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