HC orders CBI probe against top Punjab Government officials
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday handed over a probe to the CBI into allegations involving high-ranking officials of the Punjab government, including an OSD to the chief minister, noting that the material shared by the Enforcement Directorate prima facie indicated their involvement in acts of corruption.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the handling of the matter by Punjab Police, a bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR and submit a report within two months.
“The material shared by ED prima facie indicated involvement of high public officials in acts of corruption and at least required registering of FIR so that proper investigation in the matter would be carried out. This is not the response of the Punjab Police,” the court noted.
The order came on a public interest litigation filed by advocate Nikhil Saraf, who had sought an independent probe into the matter raised by the ED with the Punjab Police in its letters to the DGP.
The ED wrote to the Punjab Police, seeking registration of an FIR on graft charges against a private person, Nitin Gohal, who allegedly acted as an intermediary between interested persons and Rajbir Ghuman, an officer on special duty to the Punjab Chief Minister. The petitioner alleged involvement of senior officers of the state of Punjab in various scams, including “cash for transfers”; “cash for getting favourable policies”; “cash for tenders”;
and such other “serious irregularities”, claiming that no investigation was carried out by the Punjab Police despite ED sharing information in this regard.
“On a cumulative assessment of the material placed on record before us in this petition, we are of the considered view that a fair and transparent investigation is required to be carried out in the matter.
“We are also not impressed by the manner in which Punjab Police has acted so far in the matter and therefore we deem it appropriate to entrust investigation of the present case to the Central Bureau of Investigation which will register an FIR in the matter and proceed with the investigation forthwith,” according to the order.
The court said a report with regard to the outcome of such investigation shall be submitted to it within two months and also directed the Punjab government and the Punjab Police to render all assistance to the CBI in carrying out a fair investigation in the matter.
The court observed that the material forwarded by ED to Punjab Police is voluminous and contains incriminating material which was expected to have led to a responsible response from the state police.
Opposition parties in Punjab slammed the AAP government over the High Court order, questioning its “zero tolerance for corruption” claims.
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should immediately resign as the government has lost the moral right to remain in power.
“If the government considers itself truly honest, why did it run away from an investigation despite repeated letters from the ED, and why is the Chief Minister afraid of an investigation into his own office?” he said .
Newly appointed Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh also welcomed the High Court's decision. He said the investigation must now be fair, impartial, transparent and time-bound, with no delay, political pressure or attempt to dilute it.
Everyone responsible for causing loss to Punjab's exchequer must be held accountable, regardless of how powerful or influential they may be, the Congress leader said. He also said AAP came to power promising to fight corruption and strengthen the Lokpal. “If corruption has now reached from the MLA level to the Chief Minister's Office, there must be complete accountability.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the HC order exposes the true face of AAP regime.
“If the Enforcement Directorate had already asked for an FIR to be registered, why did Punjab Police refuse to act? Why did the judiciary have to intervene to ensure a CBI probe?... people demand accountability,” Badal said in a post on X.
During the court proceedings, the state counsel questioned the credentials of the petitioner, submitting that it is liable to be dismissed as being not maintainable.
Referring to the state government's earlier order of demolition of the petitioner's farm stay in Mohali, the court observed that Saraf's contention that an attempt is being made by Punjab Police to silence the whistleblower also cannot be brushed aside lightly.
“The fact that a demolition order came to be passed against the petitioner soon after filing of the present petition appears unnatural.
“Notice had earlier been issued to the petitioner in November, 2024 which was promptly responded to by the petitioner in 2024 itself. Nothing happened thereafter,” the court noted.
“Though, we are not expressing any definite opinion on the legality of petitioner's construction but the manner in which action of demolition has followed soon after issuance of notice in this matter does create doubt regarding the intent of high-ranking state officers against whom petitioner has highlighted corruption based on information shared by ED with Punjab Police,” observed the court.
Last month, the petitioner had received a demolition notice regarding the alleged unauthorised construction at his farm stay.
However, after the petitioner moved the High Court against it, the Punjab government gave an undertaking that it would not demolish it till the next date of hearing.
The ED wrote to the Punjab Police, seeking registration of an FIR against a private person, Nitin Gohal, and others for allegedly influencing transfers and postings of government officials, facilitating arms licence approvals, leaking confidential government documents and securing government approvals in lieu of alleged monetary and other benefits.
According to the ED, Gohal allegedly acted as an intermediary between interested persons and Rajbir Ghuman, who is an officer on special duty to the Punjab Chief Minister. Both Gohal and Ghuman have already rejected the allegations.
The ED had written three letters to the Punjab DGP for the registration of a case. The ED's letter stems from a money laundering investigation linked to the submission of alleged fake consent letters for obtaining Change of Land Use (CLU) in a case involving a housing society.
The ED had conducted searches on the premises of Nitin Gohal, Ajay Sehgal of Indian Cooperative House Building Society, the Suntec City Project and some others in the month of May.
The agency had submitted its 200-page affidavit to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on a PIL filed by lawyer Nikhil Saraf, seeking a probe into the ED's allegations.
