India
Supreme Court Delays Punjab Government’s Request to Halt CBI Probe
The Supreme Court postponed the Punjab government’s challenge to a High Court order that directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register a criminal case over alleged corruption linked to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s office. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu agreed to hear the matter on Friday after senior counsel Vikas Singh, representing the state, argued that the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) should not be allowed to proceed without a full review. Justice Datta explained that an interim order could not be issued until Justice Nagu had examined the petition, as the case file had not yet reached him. The bench will consider the challenge on Friday.
The case has political implications, as Punjab assembly elections are scheduled for early next year. The Mann government claims the CBI and ED actions are politically motivated and targeted by the BJP.
The CBI’s first steps followed the High Court’s October 5 order, which included searches at eight locations across Punjab and the summoning of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s officer on special duty (OSD), Rajbir Singh Ghuman, and five others. Ghuman and the co‑accused did not appear before the CBI at its Chandigarh office on Wednesday. The CBI registered a 251‑page FIR at midnight on October 5, naming Ghuman, alleged middleman Nitin Gohal, his brother Jitin Gohal alias Raja, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder and RS Nagra. The agency alleges the accused ran an organised network to manipulate IAS and IPS postings, departmental proceedings, policy formulation, administrative approvals, tenders, licensing, arms licences and land‑use conversions in return for bribes, and that unreleased government notifications and internal draft policies were leaked to private beneficiaries.
The case originated from three communications sent by the ED to Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav between July 24 and August 12, raising allegations of corruption involving Ghuman and others. The High Court, after a public interest litigation by advocate Nikhil Saraf, directed the CBI to register an FIR and investigate the allegations, stating that the material supplied by the ED prima facie indicated the involvement of senior public officials. It also criticised the Punjab Police for failing to act on the ED inputs and directed the state authorities to cooperate fully with the central agency.
The Punjab government approached the Supreme Court within hours of the High Court order, arguing that the direction to register a CBI case was issued without sufficient material to establish a cognisable offence and raised serious questions concerning the federal structure. Senior counsel Vikas Singh sought an immediate hearing, but Chief Justice of India Surya Kant declined to hear the matter the same day, stating it would be accommodated on Wednesday or Thursday.
The CBI subsequently carried out searches at Ghuman’s official residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh, his ancestral home in Gharachon, Sangrur district, and six other locations. Electronic devices, including laptops and mobile phones, as well as financial and administrative documents were seized. The raids triggered a political controversy after villagers and local opposition workers reportedly showered the CBI team with flower petals and distributed sweets during the search at Ghuman’s residence. The state government alleges that central agencies are being used by the BJP to target the Mann government ahead of the Punjab assembly elections. The CBI clarified that its search was conducted at a residence used by the chief minister’s OSD and not at the Punjab chief minister’s Secretariat.