Maha ex-minister Anil Deshmukh walks out jail after 14 months

 Former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday stepped out of the Arthur Road Central Jail here on bail after spending almost 14 months behind bars.

Deshmukh, 73, was released after the Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused a Central Bureau of Investigation plea to extend the stay on its order granting bail.

A single-judge vacation bench of Justice Santosh Chapalgaonkar declined to entertain the CBI plea against the backdrop of the regular court's previous order that no plea for further extension of custody will be entertained, thus paving the way for his release.

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