The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh, who had accused Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, why he did not lodge a police complaint if he was aware of some wrongdoing.

The former top cop had alleged that the Home Minister had asked police officer Sachin Waze to collect Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants. The minister has denied any wrongdoing.

“You are a senior police officer. You are not a layman. You were duty-bound to register a complaint against any wrongdoing. Despite knowing that an offence is being committed by your boss, you (Singh) remained silent,” Chief Justice Dipankar Datta said, reports news agency PTI.

“The proper and appropriate course of action would be for you (Singh) to first lodge a complaint with police. If the police do not lodge an FIR, then you have the option of filing an application before the magistrate,” the court said, according to the agency.

Singh in his petition alleged that Deshmukh had asked police officers, including suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, to collect Rs 100 crore each month from bars and restaurants.

Waze was arrested earlier this month by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the bomb scare near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai.

Singh was shifted from the post of Mumbai’s Commissioner of Police to the Home Guards department on March 17.

The bench further noted that Singh cannot convert the high court into a magistrate court. The court was hearing a criminal public interest litigation (PIL) filed on March 25 by Singh, seeking a CBI probe against Deshmukh.

Singh’s lawyer Vikram Nankani said his client wanted to avoid this “chakravyuh” (labyrinth). To which the court replied that this was the procedure laid down in law. “Are you saying that you are above the law?” Chief Justice Datta asked.