ED letters to Punjab DGP: HC orders CBI probe; demands report in two months

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday ordered that the case of the letters written by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to the DGP of Punjab be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI has also been ordered to submit its report within two months.

The ED had written three letters to Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, in which it was said that Punjab 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 has alleged that they were interfering in administrative transfers and postings, as well as government tenders.

When the Punjab Police did not register a case in this matter, a PIL was filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in which a demand was made to hand over the case to the CBI.

The PIL was filed by Advocate Nikhil Saraf.

In the petition, Saraf had said the Enforcement Directorate's letter levels several serious allegations against the officials linked to the Punjab Chief Minister's Office.

Saraf argued that the cases should be handed over to the CBI for a "fair and independent investigation", which is "free from the influence of the Punjab Police and Punjab Vigilance".

The petitioner also sought a detailed investigation into the money trail and strict action against those found guilty.

Last month, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) 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.

The representation also urged the Governor to intervene with the state government, and urged the Union government to conduct a court-monitored, time-bound CBI probe into all corruption cases disclosed in the ED’s reference, including the role of every public servant, intermediary, developer and beneficiary and the money trail.

The BJP had also questioned the police's inaction on the matter.

"We therefore demand an independent Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the entire matter," former Union Minister Vijay Sampla had told the media.

Sampla said the ED reference, based on material gathered during its investigation in a case, contained serious allegations relating to criminal conspiracy, corruption, unauthorised leakage of confidential government information, interference in transfers and postings, manipulation of government policies and tenders, illegal gratification and other cognisable offences.

Sampla demanded registration of a first information report (FIR) sought by the ED, preservation of all digital, documentary, and financial evidence, and a time-bound CBI investigation into the entire matter, including the roles of Gohal, Ghuman, and all other persons named in the ED material.

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