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The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), too, demanded a clarification from the CBI on the matter and said if true, it will prove that CBI action is politically motivated.

The leaked documents are apparently from the preliminary enquiry conducted by the CBI following directives of the Bombay high court (HC).

According to the leaked report that has gone viral on social media platforms, no cognizable offence was committed by Deshmukh and the enquiry should be closed.

It also found there is only hearsay evidence given in support of allegations against the former home minister. The CBI did not confirm or deny the same, but said the case was registered in the basis of evidence received and legal opinion and the probe continues.

“The preliminary enquiry has revealed that Sachin Vaze, API, was involved in illegal collection of money from orchestra/ hookah bar owners and owners of other establishments in Mumbai on the pretext of allowing them extended hours till late night and not conducting raids on them. It is not clear whether he was collecting money for his own benefit or for any others. There is material evidence in the form of oral evidence, documentary evidence and technical evidence, which is sufficient to prove the same,” stated the leaked document, also posted by Sawant on his Twitter handle.

“However, our mandate in this preliminary enquiry is to see whether any cognizable offence is made out against Deshmukh, the then home minister. The enquiry conducted has revealed that no cognizable offence has been committed by Deshmukh, the then home minister,” it added.

There are 29 conclusion points, which stated that there is only hearsay evidence to support the allegations, no evidence has come out against Deshmukh that he had given directions to collect money, police officers who exchanged text messages with Singh have denied that the home minister had given them any directions .

CBI has neither confirmed not rejected the findings of the leaked report.

“A number of media queries have been received regarding a CBI case registered against the then Maharashtra home minister and unknown others. 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. Investigation in the matter is on-going,” stated a statement issued by the central investigation agency on Sunday.

“Conspiracy of Modi govt to target @Anildeshmukhncp and defame MVA has been exposed. The Investigation officer of CBI in PE had concluded that there is no role of Anil Deshmukh ji in so called Rs 100 cr collection allegation by Former CP Parambir Singh & had closed the inquiry. We demand SC monitored inquiry into this conspiracy to find out at whose behest the CBI changed it’s stand by overriding the IO report? HC had only asked for PE but filing FIR by misguiding HC is a huge crime of CBI. HM Amit Shah must take responsibility and immediately resign,” Sawant said in a series of tweets.

“Clear example as to how these agencies have become political weapons of Modi govt to target their opponents. Even courts misguided, rules are bent, inquiries kept unending, such conspiracies happen only in Autocracy. High time Entire nation comes together in saving our democracy,” he further added.

“We don’t know if the documents related to the preliminary enquiry are true or not. The CBI should clarify this but if the documents are real and preliminary enquiry has not found anything against Deshmukh then there can be no action with political vengeance bigger than this case. It will also prove what we have been saying since the beginning that the allegations are politically motivated,” said Nawab Malik, national spokesperson, NCP.

Shiv Sena, too, reacted to the controversy and said that the society should find the answer to the question why CBI is troubling MVA leaders for the last so many months. Party spokesperson Arvind Sawant said, “If the preliminary enquiry report was submitted in April and has come out now, does it mean CBI is being used to create trouble and if yes, people should find its answer to this question,” Sawant told reporters.

In response, the BJP has questioned the authenticity of the leaked documents and asked why Deshmukh was running away from the investigation if he was innocent. “We question the validity of this so-called leaked report. Moreover, if Deshmukh was not involved in the matter, why was he running away from the investigation and was not appearing before the enforcement directorate despite receiving several summons?” said Keshav Upadhye, state BJP spokesperson.

Leader of opposition Pravin Darekar questioned the intention behind the leak and all this needs to be investigated to avoid confusion.

The CBI has been probing the alleged corruption by Deshmukh after a high court bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta in April directed the central agency to initiate a preliminary enquiry against Deshmukh based on a criminal complaint lodged at a Mumbai Police station by lawyer Jaishri Patil. Deshmukh had resigned from the state cabinet after the HC order. Patil had filed a PIL in the HC seeking action on the complaint registered by her. Deshmukh has been facing charges of corruption and misconduct as the former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh alleged that Deshmukh had asked Vaze to collect Rs 100 crore a month from dance bars and similar establishments from Mumbai.

The allegations were levelled by Singh after he was removed from the post in March as a fallout of the Antilia bomb scare case which took place in February outside billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s south Mumbai house. only 111,774 people on Sunday and has administered a total 57,165,318 doses till date, according to the data available on Co-win portal.