Days after being “detained” at the Delhi airport upon his return from Paris and fined ₹ 50,000, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday linked chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to the incident, claiming that the poll panel chief’s brother Manish Kumar headed the customs department at the airport.
“Who is the head of customs at the Delhi airport? Manish, the brother of CEC Gyanesh Kumar. This is how these people take revenge,” Mann alleged, targeting the central government. “They asked me to have my luggage checked, and I complied with the inspection. The chief minister also mentioned Gyanesh Kumar’s daughter, who is the district magistrate of Noida, without naming her. The exemption, he added, would not automatically extend to members of his entourage either.
Mann visited Paris to participate in SIAL Paris 2026, an international food trade exhibition held from October 17 to 21. The chief minister claimed that the officers told him they were under pressure from above and would, therefore, have to issue a challan as it was a matter of their jobs.
Recounting the episode during a discussion in the Punjab assembly on an official resolution against alleged electoral irregularities, Mann said he was detained by officials at the Delhi airport on his return from Paris, where he had attended a food fair. He alleged that he was asked to pay an “arbitrary” ₹ 50,000 challan despite nothing objectionable being found in his belongings. The chief minister said he was asked to sit at the airport for two hours and follow the protocol. Nothing objectionable was found among my belongings,” he said. His visit came after the Punjab and Haryana high court allowed a plea filed by the Punjab government challenging the Centre’s decision to deny him “political clearance” for the visit. He said while the chief minister might be exempt from personal screening under protocol, his luggage would not necessarily enjoy the same exemption.
