The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday booked Rajbir Ghuman, officer on special duty (OSD) to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann , and five others in a corruption case on the high court’s orders and raided eight locations, including the official residence of CM’s aide in Chandigarh.
Besides Ghuman, the FIR names five individuals: Alleged middleman Nitin Gohal, Jitin Gohal alias Raja, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder, and RS Nagra. The HC order came on a public interest litigation filed by advocate Nikhil Saraf, who had sought an independent probe into the matter raised by the ED with Punjab Police. This is not the response of the Punjab Police,” the court noted.
“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.
The allegations against them include influencing and manipulating postings of IAS and IPS officers, departmental proceedings, matters pertaining to policy formulation, administrative approvals, tender conditions, licensing matters, land use conversion matters, revenue and land-related issues in lieu of pecuniary benefits, said the CBI spokesperson.
The ED had written three letters to the DGP for the registration of a case against an alleged middleman Gohal and others. 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.
Derived from material seized during an ongoing money-laundering investigation involving GMADA land allotments, Gohal acted as an intermediary for Ghuman, according to the ED letters.
