A special court on Wednesday allowed dismissed Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze to become an approver in a corruption case against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Bar and Bench reported.

An approver is a person who is involved in a crime and provides evidence against the accomplices. Vaze has sought pardon under Section 306 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Live Law reported.

The suspended officer had filed an application before the Central Bureau of Investigation’s special court for pardon and to be declared an approver in the case last week, stating that he had cooperated with the agency before and after he was arrested, PTI reported.

His statement was also recorded before a magistrate under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, Vaze’s plea said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had consented to Vaze’s plea on May 25.

On Wednesday, Special Judge DP Shingade allowed his petition to depose as a prosecution witness in the case.

“Your application is awarded to you, but subject to certain conditions,” the judge said.

It is, however, not clear what conditions the court has imposed.

The case is related to accusations made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh who had written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in March last year alleging that Deshmukh had asked some officers to extort Rs 100 crore every month from bars and restaurants in the city.

In a letter to Thackeray, Singh had written that Vaze told him Deshmukh had asked him to collect Rs 100 crore every month through illegal channels.

In April last year, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a first information report against Deshmukh, Vaze, and others following a Bombay High Court order.

Vaze is currently in judicial custody.

Other allegations against Vaze

Vaze is also one of the 14 accused persons in the Mukesh Ambani bomb scare case.

A sports utility vehicle with 20 gelatin sticks was found on February 25 last year near the industrialist’s home in Mumbai. The police had said that the car was stolen from the city’s Airoli-Mulund Bridge on February 18 that same year. The car’s owner, Mansukh Hiren, an auto parts dealer, was found dead on March 5 last year in Kalwa creek.

On March 13, 2021, the National Investigation Agency took over the case from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and arrested Vaze for his alleged links with Hiren.