MUMBAI: Anil Deshmukh, the Former Home Minister of Maharashtra on Wednesday, December 28,  stepped out of the Arthur Road Central Jail in Mumbai on bail after spending almost 14 months behind bars.

Deshmukh, 73, was released after the Bombay High Court turned down the Central Bureau of Investigation's request to extend the stay on its judgement granting bail on Tuesday.

Given that the regular court had previously ruled that no further requests for extensions of imprisonment would be allowed, a single-judge vacation bench of Justice Santosh Chapalgaonkar declined to hear the CBI's argument, clearing the door for his release.

Hundreds of Nationalist Congress Party leaders and activists accorded a hero's welcome to Anil  Deshmukh who stepped out of the prison gates around 4.55 pm.

Justice MS Karnik had granted bail to Anil Deshmukh on December 12, but stayed the order for 10 days as the CBI sought time to challenge it in the Supreme Court.

The high court, while granting bail to Deshmukh, had noted that barring for dismissed police officer Sachin Waze's statement, no statement registered by the CBI showed that money was being extorted from bar owners in Mumbai at the behest of the NCP leader.

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