New Delhi, March 9 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the interim protection from arrest to former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh till March 24 in connection with his plea seeking quashing of criminal cases slapped against him by the Maharashtra government. A two-judge Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul came out with the ruling. Singh moved the court seeking its direction and order in quashing the criminal cases and investigation ordered against him by the Maharashtra government or to entrust the investigation in all cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Justice Kaul said he did not propose to hear this for hours together. “The probe has to go before the CBI,” the apex court observed during the course of the hearing. It said its interim orders will continue meanwhile. The court was hearing a petition filed by Singh seeking protection from coercive steps by Mumbai Police in the cases registered against him. Singh, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was removed from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner on March 17 and was made the General Commander of the Maharashtra State Home Guard after he levelled serious allegations against former Minister Anil Deshmukh. SM MR