The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list the Punjab government’s challenge to a high court order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register a criminal case into alleged corruption linked to chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s office, but declined an urgent hearing the same day, saying the matter could be accommodated on Wednesday or Thursday.
The high court bench, comprising Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor, had directed the CBI to proceed with the investigation and submit a report within two months. It also asked the Punjab Police to extend full cooperation to the central agency. The court noted that although notices had been issued to several persons, Ghuman had not been asked to join the investigation. The high court was also unimpressed by the police’s reliance on the need for legible copies of the ED documents to explain the delay in acting on the allegations. Holding that a fair and transparent investigation was necessary, the court entrusted the probe to the CBI, directing it to register an FIR and proceed forthwith.
It also criticised the state police for its handling of the matter, observing that it had conducted what appeared to be only a preliminary inquiry since receiving the ED’s information on August 3.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, responding to senior advocate Vikas Singh’s request for an immediate hearing, said that the court would try to accommodate the petition within the next two days, despite Singh’s plea that the high court’s direction raised serious questions about the federal structure and warranted urgent intervention. In its Monday order, the high court said the material shared by the ED prima facie indicated the involvement of senior public officials in acts of corruption and warranted registration of an FIR to enable a proper investigation.
The high court has yesterday ordered a CBI inquiry against our officers. I want the listing today itself,” he said. The Punjab government moved the Supreme Court in the early hours of Tuesday, filing a special leave petition around 1.42am against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s Monday order directing the CBI to register an FIR and investigate allegations of corruption involving senior state government officials and the chief minister’s office.
Singh argued that the high court had ordered a CBI inquiry against state government officers without sufficient material to establish the commission of a cognisable offence. “It is settled law that no case can be registered unless there is evidence of a cognisable offence. The high court’s intervention followed a public interest litigation filed by advocate Nikhil Saraf, who alleged that the state authorities had failed to act on the ED’s communications despite the seriousness of the allegations. The petition sought an independent investigation into alleged corruption involving senior government officials, including claims relating to transfers, policy decisions and tender allocations.
