HC hands ED-referred Punjab corruption letters to CBI, faults state police

CBI Probe into ED Letters: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has transferred the probe into ED letters to the Punjab DGP to the CBI, which must report within two months.

North Desk Correspondent

Chandigarh, October 5

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday moved the probe into alleged corruption linked to the Chief Minister’s Office to the CBI, after the Enforcement Directorate’s letters to the state police went unactioned, according to a petition.

Pronouncing its order on the public interest litigation (PIL) by advocate Nikhil Saraf regarding the letters from the enforcement directorate (ED), a bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor ordered the CBI to register an FIR and investigate.

The high court has directed the CBI to complete its investigation and submit a report within two months. The bench said it was “not impressed” with how Punjab Police had handled the matter so far, and it directed the state and police to assist the CBI.

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The petition arose from letters the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sent to the state under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002. The ED had written three letters to Punjab Police, in which it was said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s OSD Rajbir Singh Ghuman and his associates Nitin Gohal and Bir Devinder were involved in corruption, and an FIR should be registered against them.

The agency alleged that the individuals were interfering in administrative transfers and postings and in government tenders.

ALSO: WHAT EXACTLY IS ED ALLEGING

CBI Probe into ED Letters: The PIL

Nikhil Saraf argued that the state had not acted on these communications, and that the allegations included transfers of IAS and police officers and tenders and permissions for builders and developers. Those allegations are the ED’s and the petitioner’s. The court has not made findings on them.

During the hearing, ED counsel and Additional Solicitor-General Satya Pal Jain blamed the government for not acting on the letter from the agency’s Jalandhar zone to the state police headquarters.  

Saraf’s petition also said part of the complaint had been circulating on social media among journalists and politicians.

It alleged that some of the people involved were very close to the Chief Minister’s family. When the Punjab Police did not register a case in this matter, a PIL was filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and Saraf sought transfer to the CBI, arguing for a probe that would be free of influence from the state police and the Punjab Vigilance Bureau.

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Politicians react: Oppn welcomes move

CBI Probe into ED Letters: Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa welcomed the order on X, saying he hoped the CBI would conduct a fair, impartial and time-bound investigation. He said: “I welcome the Hon’ble High Court’s decision and hope the CBI conducts a fair, impartial and time-bound investigation. Those who looted Punjab’s exchequer must be booked and punished, irrespective of how powerful they are.”

CBI Probe into ED Letters: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tikshan Sud said that the ED’s three letters meant the matter now fell under a formal investigation.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, in a post on X, said the order exposed the Chief Minister’s claims of honesty and linked the case to earlier controversies.  

Talking to the media on Monday, AAP leader Aman Arora said it was not for him to comment on the court’s orders. “The High Court has issued the orders. Let the CBI investigate,” he said.

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ALSO: WHAT EXACTLY IS ED ALLEGING

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