Punjab moves Supreme Court against P&H High Court order for CBI probe against CM Bhagwant Mann's OSD

Punjab government has moved the Supreme Court challenging Punjab and Haryana High Court's order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register a criminal case to probe allegations of corruption linked to the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's office [State of Punjab v Nikhil Saraf]

A Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the High Court order was filed by the government at around 1:42 am on Tuesday.

A bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor at the High Court on Monday morning asked the CBI to file a report on its probe within two months.

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had asked the Punjab Police to register an FIR to probe the allegations of corruption against Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann's Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Rajbir Singh Ghuman

As per the ED, an individual named Nitin Gohal acted as an intermediary between people seeking favours from the government, and Ghuman. The allegations relate to transfers, access to confidential government documents, facilitation of arms licences and other benefits.

After the police failed to register an FIR, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition was filed by advocate Nikhil Saraf to challenge the inaction.

In a judgment in the PIL, the High Court on Monday said the information shared by ED prima facie conveyed commission of cognizable offences in high public office which has the potential of endangering public interest.

It found that Punjab had only conducted some sort of a "preliminary inquiry" since the sharing of information by the ED on August 3. It added that while notices were issued to many persons, Mann's OSD was not asked to join the probe.

The Court also found that the Punjab Police was delaying the matter on the pretext of seeking legible copies of ED documents.

The Court added that the material forwarded by the ED contained incriminating material and was expected to have led to a responsible response from the State police.

"The material shared by ED prima facie indicated involvement of high public officials in acts of corruption and at least required registering of FIR so that proper investigation in the matter would be carried out. This is not the response of the Punjab Police," the Court said.