Mumbai:
With the government working overtime to prove a litany of charges against businessman Hasan Ali, it's time for politicians to prove that they had no link to the man who stands accused of stashing 8 billion dollars of black money in foreign bank accounts.
A major step towards setting the record straight: the suspension of Mumbai's Deputy Police Commissioner Ashok Deshbhratar.
In 2008, Mr. Ali, who is based in Pune and is known for his lavish cars, homes and stud-farms, was arrested for forging documents to acquire a fake passport.
At that time, he had been interrogated by Mr. Deshbhratar, who decided to film the Q and A without informing his seniors, using a spycam.
Copies of the interrogation were leaked to the media. They showed Mr. Ali boasting that he influenced prominent politicians to select Hassan Gafoor as Mumbai's Police Commissioner in 2008.
Two years after the CD was leaked, the state government ordered the police's Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to conduct an inquiry. That report has declared that Mr. Deshbhratar filmed, then doctored and leaked the CD to malign the government.
The government says there was a complaint lodged with the Anti-Corruption Bureau against Mr Deshbhratar for demanding an Rs 1 crore bribe from a builder named Yusuf Lakdawala for providing special privileges to Mr. Ali in jail. The builder is a friend of Mr. Ali's.
The Opposition in Maharashtra says the government is punishing Mr. Deshbhratar for being privy to damaging details about powerful people.
"There is some fear in the mind of the government that he has certain information which is against some bureaucrats and politicians of Maharashtra", said Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP.