The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has intensified its investigation into the controversial Gulmohar Township project in Phase 9 of Mohali's industrial area, conducting extensive searches at locations linked to the project and its promoters. The investigation has brought former Punjab Industries Minister Sundar Sham Arora and several senior government officials back under scrutiny over alleged irregularities in industrial plot allotments and their subsequent conversion for township development.
 

The ED's action is being linked to the disproportionate assets case registered against Arora and alleged violations in the allotment of plots by the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC). Several senior IAS officers who were posted in the Industries Department during the period under investigation have also come under the scanner.
 

In 2023, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau registered a criminal case against former Cabinet Minister Sundar Sham Arora, a senior IAS officer and 10 government employees. The case concerned allegations of transferring an industrial plot in the name of a real estate company and granting approval to subdivide the land for the development of a township.
 

The Vigilance Bureau also registered a case against three owners of the real estate firm, Gulmohar Township Private Limited. Subsequently, seven PSIEC officials were arrested on allegations of conspiring to extend undue benefits to the company. However, these officials were later reinstated, and the government subsequently gave fresh approval to the project.
 

According to the background of the case, the Punjab government had allotted 25 acres of land to Anand Lamps Limited through a sale deed in 1987. The property was subsequently transferred to a firm named Signify Innovations.
 

Signify Innovations later obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC) and sold the plot to Gulmohar Township through a sale deed.
 

In March 2021, Sundar Sham Arora, who was then serving as the Industries and Commerce Minister, forwarded a letter received from Gulmohar Township regarding the further division of the industrial plot to the then Managing Director of PSIDC for necessary action.
 

Following this, the Managing Director constituted a departmental committee to examine the proposal submitted by the real estate company.
 

According to the investigation, the committee approved the company's proposal to divide 12 plots into 125 smaller plots, allegedly overlooking several important documents, including the project report, proposal report, Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association.
 

The committee also reportedly recommended the proposal in favour of Gulmohar Township without seeking the views of relevant authorities, including the Punjab Pollution Control Board and the Municipal Corporation.
 

The fresh ED searches have once again brought the Gulmohar Township controversy into focus, with the investigation examining alleged irregularities in industrial land transfers, plot allotments and approvals granted during the previous government's tenure.