The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday (October 5, 2026) ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into corruption allegations against individuals linked to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government, triggering an uproar in the State’s political circles as Opposition parties cornered the AAP on its much touted ‘zero-tolerance’ anti-corruption stance.
Pronouncing its order on a public interest litigation case, the Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor said that, on a cumulative assessment of the material placed on record in the petition, the court was of the view that a fair and transparent investigation was required into the issue.
Opposition parties, meanwhile, hit out the AAP government. The Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Congress’s Partap Singh Bajwa, demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, saying the High Court’s decision had raised serious questions on the functioning of the State government, and the Chief Minister’s own responsibility. “The Punjab government proudly advertises Bhagwant Mann as an imandaar (honest) Chief Minister. Bajwa . The court further ordered the Punjab government and state police to render full cooperation and assistance to the central agency during the inquiry. The ED alleged that Gohal, in collusion with Ghuman and other associates, including Bir Devinder and Jitin Gohal, operated an organised bribery network out of the chief minister’s office. The network allegedly collected crores in cash and real estate in exchange for influencing IAS/IPS postings, leaking confidential government files, facilitating arms licences, and clearing commercial projects. The state government had opposed the PIL, questioning its maintainability and the credentials of the petitioner.
The petitioner, advocate Nikhil Saraf, said that while communications had been sent by the Enforcement Directorate under Section 66 (2) of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 to Punjab, despite such facts as well as other facts of corruption in high public office, having been highlighted by the petitioner also, no action was being taken in the matter. Appearing for the state, the advocate general argued that police were actively examining the matter and maintained that an FIR could not be registered without completing a preliminary inquiry, seeking a three-week extension on September 14 when judgment was reserved. Expressing its dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Punjab Police had handled the matter so far, the court said in its order: “We are also not impressed by the manner in which Punjab Police has acted so far in the matter, and therefore we deem it appropriate to entrust investigation of the present case to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which will register an FIR (First Information Report) in the matter and proceed with the investigation forthwith.
But if the government is truly so honest, why did the High Court find it necessary to bring in an independent agency to investigate the matter?” said Mr. Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majitjia said the court’s order “has exposed the mask of Bhagwant Mann’s honesty”. Earlier reporting noted: According to the ED’s letters—derived from material seized during an ongoing money-laundering investigation involving GMADA land allotments—a private individual named Nitin Gohal acted as an intermediary for Rajbir Singh Ghuman, the officer on special duty (OSD) to chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
Earlier reporting noted: A division bench of chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor directed the CBI to register a criminal case and submit a status report within two months. Earlier reporting noted: HC hands over ED probe on high-level Punjab graft to CBI Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday handed over an investigation into Enforcement Directorate (ED) letters detailing alleged top-level government corruption in Punjab directly to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
