In a first response to Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) three letters pressing for a first information report (FIR) for alleged interference into transfers and postings of officials, government approvals for key land deals and issuing of arms licences, the Punjab government on Tuesday said no case will be registered unless the federal agency provides “clear, complete and usable evidence” to the state police.
It also questioned the delay in FIR, maintaining that registration is mandatory when information discloses the commission of a cognisable offence. The agency alleged that Gohal, in coordination with associates, including Ghuman, Bir Devinder and Jitin Gohal, alias Raja, collected proceeds of crime worth crores in cash, land and kind in exchange for facilitating transfers, postings, government approvals and other favours. The agency, in its latest communication on August 31, had turned down the request of Punjab Police for more records in the matter, saying all relevant material has already been sent. Earlier, in its July 30 letter to Punjab director general of police Gaurav Yadav, followed by a reminder on August 7, the ED had alleged that Gohal acted as an intermediary between interested persons and Rajbir Ghuman, an officer on special duty to chief minister Bhagwant Mann. Arora claimed that the ED had been asked to send an authorised officer with the relevant material on September 1, but no officer appeared.
He said the state police required complete and usable evidence to conduct a proper investigation.
If there is evidence, present it. Because the particulars they (ED) have shared are not legible, “The FIR cannot be registered.
Let the investigation happen properly,” said industries and commerce minister Aman Arora while talking to reporters here.
The agency’s third letter came in response to a communication from the Punjab Police’s Bureau of Investigation (BoI) dated August 28, in which the state had sought deputation of an authorised ED officer along with complete case records, including original electronic data, chain-of-custody documents and statements, before registering an FIR. The ED has been pushing registration of an FIR against private individual Nitin Gohal and others. The agency’s investigation is linked to alleged money laundering involving purported fake consent letters submitted to obtain change of land use (CLU) approval in a housing society related matter. The agency conducted searches in May at the premises of Ajay Sehgal, secretary of the Indian Cooperative House Building Society, and others associated with the Suntec City Project. Arora claimed the ED was selectively leaking its communications to malign the AAP leadership.
He alleged that the BJP’s larger aim is to “create chaos, intimidate political leadership and keep government officers under pressure so that the elected government doesn’t function effectively”. “The repeated communications sent by the ED to the Punjab DGP, including its latest letter seeking the registration of an FIR under Section 66(2) of the PMLA, reflect the desperation and frustration of the BJP-led Centre,” said Arora.
