Chandigarh: Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday asked CBI to register an FIR and investigate allegations of corruption against a section of senior officials of Punjab govt, including alleged manipulation of transfers and postings, govt policies and tenders.“We are not impressed by the manner in which Punjab Police has acted so far and, therefore, deem it appropriate to entrust investigation to CBI,” a division bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor said, while allowing a PIL filed by advocate Nikhil Saraf, who alleged that despite information shared by Enforcement Directorate (ED) with Punjab Police, no FIR had been registered.HC observed that the material shared by ED “contains incriminating material”, which prima facie “indicated involvement of high public officials in acts of corruption and… required registering of FIR.”“We are of the considered view that a fair and transparent investigation is required,” the bench said, directing CBI to file a report within two months. The next hearing is on Dec 7.Punjab govt will challenge the order in Supreme Court, said state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema. He pointed out that the previous Congress govt in Punjab had withdrawn general consent to CBI in 2020, and AAP would approach SC in this context.During Monday’s hearing, HC noted that ED’s communication to Punjab DGP on July 30, 2026, followed searches conducted from May 7-10 in a PMLA case against Ajay Sehgal (a builder) and associates, during which “incriminating information and documents” were allegedly recovered.According to the material placed before HC, ED has alleged that businessman Nitin Gohal acted as an intermediary between those seeking govt-related favours and Rajbir Ghuman, OSD to the chief minister, in influencing transfers and postings of govt officials, leaking confidential govt documents, facilitating arms licences and securing govt approvals in lieu of alleged monetary and other benefits. The central agency alleged that Gohal, in coordination with Rajbir Ghuman, Bir Devinder and Jitin Gohal alias Raja, collected proceeds of crime “to the tune of crores in the form of cash, land and kind”.ED, through additional solicitor general Satya Pal Jain, cited WhatsApp chats to say that Nitin Gohal was “regularly influencing transfers and postings in lieu of money”, and that over Rs 20.9 lakh in cash was recovered from him.Punjab Police counsel maintained that the material supplied by ED was not fully legible and it has sought complete records from ED “to conduct the enquiry in fair and proper manner”. The state gave details of the steps it had taken since Aug 3, including holding discussions and issuing notices to persons and letters to 29 departments seeking information.HC, however, found the response inadequate and observed, “It shows that the information shared by ED with Punjab Police has led to a journey with all travel and no reaching.”The bench questioned how police could issue notices if the documents were not legible. “What was required of Punjab Police was to examine the contents shared by ED, and if it did disclose commission of cognisable offence, which it does in our considered view, an FIR ought to have been registered and investigation ought to have proceeded. This is not what has happened,” HC said.Also, asking for legible copies after about a month of deliberations and issuance of notices “lends credence to the petitioner’s contention that time is being bought only to formulate strategies to save guilty and manipulate the available evidence, or the evidence which may be collected, if a fair investigation is held in the matter”, HC said.HC also considered the petitioner’s contention that attempts were being made to silence him after he filed the PIL. It observed that the demolition order against his construction soon after filing of the petition appeared unnatural and said the sequence was “suggestive of malice.” However, it clarified that it was not expressing any definite opinion on the legality of the petitioner’s construction.
