CHANDIGARHThe Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered that the investigation into the matter concerning letters written by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Court delivered this verdict in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Advocate Nikhil Saraf.
Notably, the ED had written three letters to the Punjab DGP seeking the registration of an FIR against Rajbir Singh Ghumman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and certain other individuals, alleging their involvement in corruption. The PIL was filed in the High Court after the Punjab Police failed to register a case.
The PIL alleged widespread corruption by senior state officials across multiple domains, including cash-for-transfers, policy manipulations, and tender allocations. Saraf told the court that the Punjab Police had failed to take appropriate action on the letters written by the ED for probe into the allegations against Mann’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Rajbir Singh Ghuman.
According to the ED’s letter, which was derived from material seized during an ongoing money-laundering investigation involving GMADA land allotments, a private individual named Nitin Gohal acted as an intermediary for Rajbir Singh Ghuman, the officer on special duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Appearing before the Bench, the ED had earlier blamed the government for not acting on the letter sent by its Jalandhar zone to the state DGP. “The government did not perform its Rajdharam; instead it indulged in Rajnitik Dharam,” senior advocate and Additional Solicitor-General Satya Pal Jain had contended.
The ED alleged that Gohal, in collusion with Ghuman and other associates, including Bir Devinder and Jitin Gohal, operated an organised bribery network out of the chief minister’s office. They allegedly collected crores in cash and real estate in exchange for influencing IAS/IPS postings, leaking confidential government files, facilitating arms licences, and clearing commercial projects.
Notably, the Enforcement Directorate wrote three letters to Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav, wherein it was stated that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s OSD Rajbir Singh Ghuman as well as his associates Nitin Gohal and Bir Devinder were involved in corruption, and an FIR should be registered against them. The letters reportedly raised allegations concerning corruption in transfers and postings, Change of Land Use (CLU) matters and other works in the state.
The petitioner, Saraf, had stated that communications had been sent by the Enforcement Directorate under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, to the State of Punjab. “Despite such facts as well as other facts of corruption in high public office, having been highlighted by the petitioner also, no action is being taken in the matter,” he added. Moreover, the petitioner sought a detailed investigation into the money trail and strict action against those found guilty.
This comes after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) last month urged Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to recommend a time-bound, court-monitored CBI probe into the organised corruption racket being operated from the Chief Minister’s office. Asserting that when the CMO, the CM’s OSD and the Chief Minister’s wife were the subject of allegations and the state investigation agencies were proving ineffective, SAD urged the Governor to exercise his powers under Article 167 to call for a report from the Chief Secretary and the DGP as to why no FIR had been registered on the ED’s reference.
Speaking to reporters, advocate Dheeraj Jain, who appeared for the ED with Additional Solicitor Advocate General Satyapal Jain, said that while pronouncing the order, the court observed that they have come to the conclusion that it was a serious matter and should be properly investigated. “The high court observed that the way Punjab police handled the matter is not satisfactory. It said the CBI will probe the case now. The CBI has been directed that within two months they will submit a status report of the investigation,” Dheeraj Jain said.
A Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor has also directed Punjab police and Punjab government that all documents pertaining to the case be handed over to the CBI.
