In an exclusive interview with Marathi news portal ABP Majha, Justice Kailash Chandiwal discussed the investigation of the ‘100 crore Vasooli Case’ against former Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh, API Sachin Vaze, and IPS Parambir Singh. In this particular interview, Justice Chandiwal made several revelations, including that no clean chit was granted to Anil Deshmukh.
Justice Chandiwal also said that authorities that is Uddhav Thackeray’s government had access to key evidence in the case but failed to share it with the commission, or else, the outcome would’ve been different.
He also said that during the case several attempts were made to implicate Maharashtra’s current Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis by Sachin Vaze and Anil Deshmukh. However, the committee recognized it as a publicity-driven move and did not take them on record.
Further in the interview Justice Chandiwal mentioned that Sachin Vaze had shown a message by Salil Deshmukh, son of Anil Deshmukh who is currently contesting on his father’s former seat mentioning 40 Lakh rupees. He said that Vaze had a lot of material but he often disregarded his lawyers’ guidance and displayed a calculated, clever demeanor.
What is interesting is that there are allegations that the Chandiwal Commission which was formed under Maha Vikas Agadi wasn’t able to function properly under the same government. It is being said that the commission wasn’t provided with staff at first, later wrong places were shown to them, and various departments like CID wouldn’t help continue the probe against Deshmukh.
Responding to this interview Devendra Fadnavis said, “Justice Chandiwal mentioned that key evidence was intentionally withheld from the commission, and witnesses faced pressure not to testify. This has revealed Anil Deshmukh’s conduct.”
Congress and NCP (SP) based on several media reports from 2022 have been claiming that Justice KU Chandiwal Commission had given a clean chit to Anil Deshmukh. These reports also claimed that the commission called IPS Parambir Singh’s allegations of corruption and extortion false, however, this was proven to be a lie by Justice Chandiwal in the recent interview.
On March 30th, 2021, Justice KU Chandiwal, a retired Bombay High Court Judge was appointed to lead a single-member inquiry against former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh after IPS Parambir Singh wrote a letter to the then Chief Minister and other authorities about Deshmukh’s extortion scheme. It was said that Deshmukh ordered police officers to collect a monthly extortion quota of 100 crore rupees from bars, restaurants, and other establishments.
It was also alleged that Anil Deshmukh did so using Sharad Pawar’s name and stature.