ED summons Punjab CM’s brother-in-law over bribery probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Amardeep Singh Grewal, brother-in-law of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and a Punjabi film industry professional, for questioning over bribery allegations involving the Chief Minister’s wife, Dr Gurpreet Kaur Mann, agency sources said.

According to a source familiar with the developments, the ED initially summoned Grewal to appear on October 7. However, after an appeal, the agency has now asked him to appear at its Delhi office on October 9.

Grewal is connected to M/S East Sunshine Production Pvt Ltd and has worked on Punjabi films such as Maujaan Hi Maujaan (2023) and Snowman (2022). Investigators say these films have links to overseas production and releases.

Officials involved in the investigation said the summons is meant to examine Grewal’s role in the transactions under review and any movement of funds that could fall under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The allegations date back to early September, when Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia released what he said were call recordings between Grewal and Simranjit Singh Hundal, who was reportedly representing Gurvinder Singh, also known as Guri Chahal, a man facing several rape charges. In these recordings, Grewal is accused of asking for several crore rupees, with opposition parties claiming the amount could be as high as `5 crore, in exchange for resolving the cases. He is also alleged to have named senior police officers who would help him. Majithia also shared a photo and CCTV footage that he said showed Dr Gurpreet Kaur Mann at Rhapsody Bar and Kitchen on May 20, claiming the meeting was to finalise the deal.

The National Human Rights Commission responded to a complaint that included a public allegation by retired Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Justice Ranjit Singh. In August, the Commission asked the Punjab Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to investigate and provide a report. Earlier, Hundal approached the High Court, claiming Grewal was demanding crores of rupees to drop the cases against Chahal by using his connection to the Chief Minister’s wife. In a related case, the father’s petition was closed in July, and the investigation was assigned to a Special Director General of Police.

Dr Gurpreet Kaur Mann has denied the accusation. She sent a legal notice to Justice Ranjit Singh, calling the claim false, baseless, and defamatory, and asked for proof. The Aam Aadmi Party said the recordings were staged and politically motivated. Party spokespersons pointed to photos they say show Grewal and Chahal with BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal leaders, and questioned the timing of the campaign as elections approach.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused Mann, his wife, and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of running an extortion ‘syndicate’ through intermediaries to settle rape cases. SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal met with the National Commission for Women chairperson. He asked for an FIR against the Chief Minister’s wife, a CBI investigation, and Mann’s resignation on moral grounds. Sukhbir Singh Badal later mentioned village posters with a QR code that played the disputed audio when scanned.

The summons came a day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the CBI to register a case based on separate Enforcement Directorate reports about a cash-for-transfers and favours network linked to the Chief Minister’s Office, focusing on OSD Rajbir Singh Ghuman and private intermediaries. The State Government has appealed to the Supreme Court against this order. Officials said the Grewal summons is related to the family bribery allegations, not the transfer-posting case, but both investigations are happening in the same political context.

Grewal has not made a public statement about the summons. ED officials would not confirm the date of his appearance or whether they have already recorded his statement under the money-laundering law. Meanwhile, the ruling party argued the case rests only on unverified audio and would not hold up to independent review.