The agency has registered an FIR despite the recommendation of the investigation officer to close the case. The report -- which has been shared with media, leaders of Opposition parties and to the judges of the Supreme Court -- shows that the Investigation Officer had said "no cognisable offence has been committed by Anil Deshmukh".
Admitting that they have received many queries on registration of a case against Mr Deshmukh, the CBI, in a statement said: "It may be recalled that the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Bombay had ordered the registration of a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) in the said matter based on several PILs filed before the Hon'ble High Court. On completion of this PE, the competent authority directed registration of a regular case based on evidence collected during PE and the legal opinion. The FIR registered by CBI on 21.04.2021 has been available on CBI website since 24.04.2021".
Anil Desmukh, accused of corruption by former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh, had stepped down in April citing moral grounds..
His resignation came hours after the Bombay High Court ordered a preliminary CBI investigation into the allegations of Mr Singh on the issue which started with the discovery of a car full of explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai home in February. The agency was given 15 days to submit the report.
Sources in the agency told media that closure of the case was just the "recommendation of the IO, while the supervisory officers of the case in the rank of Superintendent of Police and above recommended for the registration of FIR".
Parambir Singh -- who was replaced as the Mumbai police chief after his allegations - had approached the Bombay High Court after a Supreme Court order.
In his petition he alleged that he was removed from his post because of his complaints against Mr Deshmukh to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The petition also accused Mr Deshmukh of corruption in police transfers and postings, based on allegations by an IPS officer, Rashmi Shukla.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar had Parambir Singh -- who was in charge of investigating the case involving an explosives-laden vehicle found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's home -- was trying to divert attention from it.
He had questioned the timing of his allegations, pointing out that he levelled them only after being removed from the top post.
The allegations against Mr Desmukh had hugely hit the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's predecessor Devendra Fadnavis leading the BJP charge.
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