Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann was detained for three hours at the Delhi airport on his return from France and issued a ₹ 50,000 challan, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab media in-charge Baltej Pannu alleged on Tuesday.
Pannu, who made the claim in a press statement, did not spell out the reason for the challan issued to the chief minister. Mann had led a state delegation to Paris in connection with participation of the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd (Markfed) in the international food trade show, SIAL 2026, being held in Paris from October 17 to October 21.
He alleged that airport officials claimed pressure from above and described the episode as an attack on Punjab’s “identity and dignity”.
The AAP leader linked the alleged incident to the Centre’s repeated denial of permission for the CM’s foreign visits, the withholding of Punjab’s funds and its handling of the farmers’ protest. Pannu claimed that excuses were made that ‘luggage was still arriving’ and ‘luggage was still being checked’. They then issued a challan of ₹ 50,000,” he said, raising questions over the treatment meted out to the CM.
“So far, permission for his foreign visits has been denied at least four times because the Modi government fears that if the chief minister travels abroad, he will bring investment and funds from there and put Punjab on the path of progress,” he said. Pannu further said that when Mann travelled to Paris, France, after being allowed by the Punjab and Haryana high court, the central government once again demonstrated its narrow-mindedness. “The high court had clearly directed that Mann be accorded his due protocol, but such was the ill intent of the Centre that even the Consul General in Paris did not come to meet the chief minister,” he claimed. “After three hours, when Mann was allowed to leave and was about to depart after placing his luggage in the vehicle, officials came running after him and said that they were under ‘tremendous pressure from above’.
