The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday conducted searches at Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s camp office and the Chandigarh residence of his Officer on Special Duty Rajbir Singh Ghuman, a day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the agency to register a case and investigate allegations of corruption linked to the Chief Minister’s Office.
The search at Ghuman’s residence began around 6.15 pm. The CBI action followed the High Court’s direction for a formal investigation after it examined material placed before it concerning allegations of government favours, transfers, access to confidential documents and assistance in obtaining arms licences.
HC ordered CBI probe
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on Monday directed the CBI to register a case and investigate the allegations after hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate Nikhil Saraf.
A bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor observed that the material placed before it prima facie disclosed cognisable offences and required a proper investigation rather than the preliminary inquiry that had been undertaken by Punjab Police.
The court also directed the Punjab government and state police to cooperate with the central investigating agency.
The Punjab government has challenged the High Court’s order before the Supreme Court.
ED material triggered case
The controversy originated from material gathered by the Enforcement Directorate during a money-laundering investigation into alleged irregularities involving Change of Land Use approvals and suspicious property transactions linked to companies under the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority.
According to the allegations placed before the court, a man identified as Nitin Gohal allegedly acted as a middleman between individuals seeking government favours and Ghuman.
The alleged favours included transfers of officials, access to confidential government documents and assistance in obtaining arms licences. These remain allegations under investigation and have not been established as findings of guilt.
The ED subsequently shared its material with the Punjab Director General of Police. When an FIR was not registered, the matter reached the High Court through the PIL.
Court questioned police inquiry
The High Court raised questions over the manner in which Punjab Police dealt with the information provided by the ED.
Police had initiated a preliminary inquiry after receiving the material on August 3. During the proceedings, the court noted that Ghuman, despite being one of the key persons named in the material, had not himself been called to participate in the inquiry.
The state police had also cited the need for legible copies of some ED documents while explaining the pace of the inquiry.
The court concluded that the allegations and material before it warranted registration of an FIR and a full investigation instead of continuation of a preliminary exercise.
Mann hits out at BJP
Mann reacted sharply to the searches, alleging that the action was politically motivated and linked to preparations for the Punjab elections.
“The BJP has started preparing for the Punjab elections. A CBI raid was conducted at my camp office,” Mann said in a social media post.
He alleged that the Enforcement Directorate and CBI would now be used to defame him and the Punjab government. He further claimed that the BJP was “rattled” by the support his government was receiving from people.
The BJP’s alleged role in directing the searches is Mann’s political charge. The immediate trigger for the CBI investigation was the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order directing the agency to register a case and probe the allegations.
Ghuman denied allegations
Ghuman and his associates have previously denied the allegations against them and described them as baseless.
The CBI searches do not by themselves establish criminal liability against Ghuman, Mann or any other person. The allegations that prompted the investigation remain subject to examination by the agency and subsequent judicial scrutiny.
The case has nevertheless assumed political significance because the investigation concerns allegations linked to a senior functionary in the Chief Minister’s Office and comes amid a confrontation between the AAP-led Punjab government and central agencies.
With the state government moving the Supreme Court against the High Court order, the investigation is now unfolding alongside a legal challenge to the direction under which the CBI entered the case.