Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Rajbir Singh Ghuman has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to appear at its Sector 30 office in Chandigarh at 2.30 pm on Wednesday in connection with a case involving allegations of corruption and influence-peddling.
The summons came a day after the CBI registered an FIR against Ghuman and five other persons and carried out search and seizure operations at the Punjab Chief Minister’s Camp Office and seven other locations.
The other persons named in the FIR are Nitin Gohal, Jitin Gohal alias Raja, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder and RS Nagra. Searches were conducted at the residences of all six accused as well as relatives of Ghuman named in the case.
It is not yet clear whether Ghuman will appear before the CBI on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Government is set to again approach the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking an urgent hearing on its petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court order directing the CBI to investigate the allegations, a senior state government functionary said.
The state government filed its Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the October 5 High Court order at around 1.42 am on Tuesday. The matter was mentioned before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Tuesday. The Bench agreed to consider the plea on Wednesday or Thursday.
The latest development follows coordinated CBI searches at eight locations across Punjab and Chandigarh on Tuesday. These included the Chief Minister’s Camp Office in Sector 2, Ghuman’s residence in Gharachon village and the residence of a person related to him in Phase 11, Mohali.
The CBI teams also conducted searches at locations in Sangrur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Gurdaspur. The search operation began at around 5.30 pm and continued until about 11 pm.
According to the CBI, laptops, mobile phones and documents were seized from the premises linked to the persons named in the case. The agency is examining the seized material for evidence related to allegations of bribery and other alleged improprieties.
The searches were conducted after the Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its October 5 order, directed the CBI to register a case and investigate information concerning alleged corruption and influence-peddling. The information had earlier been shared by the Enforcement Directorate with the Punjab Police.