The Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against Rajbir Ghuman, an aide to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, on Tuesday. The probe involves alleged corruption linked to IAS and IPS officer postings. Officials said the ED may soon summon the accused and search properties after the CBI filed an FIR.
The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against Rajbir Ghuman, officer on special duty to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and his associates in connection with alleged corruption linked to the postings of IAS and IPS officers, officials said on Tuesday.
The move follows a Supreme Court order on Monday directing the Central Bureau of Investigation not to take any coercive action in the case. The court, however, did not stay the FIR or stop the investigation.
Officials said the ED has filed its case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of the CBI FIR and may soon carry out fresh searches, summon the accused and begin provisional attachment of assets. The CBI registered the FIR last week after the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered it to probe allegations that the accused influenced the postings of IAS and IPS officers in return for pecuniary gain.
A CBI spokesperson had said, 'The CBI has booked six persons, including two public servants, middlemen and associates, namely Rajbir Ghuman, OSD to the Chief Minister, Punjab, Nitin Gohal, Jitin Gohal alias Raja, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder, R S Nagra; and unknown public servant(s) and private person(s).' According to the spokesperson, the FIR was registered on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and after receipt of an ED report to investigate allegations of corruption against Ghuman and his associates 'for influencing and manipulating postings of officers, including that of IAS and IPS officers, department proceedings, matters pertaining to policy formulation, administrative approvals, tender conditions, licensing matters, land use conversion matters, property disputes, and revenue and land related issues in lieu of pecuniary benefits'.
The CBI spokesperson had also said the accused public servants were alleged to have accessed and provided drafts of orders and policies to private persons before they were issued by the government. The ED had earlier raided Ghuman's alleged associates in May after registering a PMLA case based on a November 2022 Punjab Police FIR against the promoters of a realty project named Suntec City. In sum, the latest ED case stems from the CBI's corruption probe into allegations of using influence over official postings and related government matters for financial benefit.