Chandigarh: Suspended Punjab Police DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar and his close associate Krishanu Sharda have approached a CBI court in Chandigarh seeking withdrawal of an order that took cognisance of a corruption case registered by the CBI last year.
The CBI court, while taking cognisance of the case on March 13, 2026, observed that prima facie evidence — including demand and acceptance of a bribe, its recovery, electronic evidence and witness statements — indicated that a criminal conspiracy had been hatched between the accused. The court noted that both accused allegedly acted in collusion and accepted a bribe.
Accordingly, the court held that offences were made out against them under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).
In a petition filed before the court of CBI Special Judge Bhawna Jain through advocate SPS Bhullar, the suspended DIG argued that the court took cognisance when the charge sheet filed by the prosecution was incomplete, as documents related to the CFSL report had not yet been supplied.
The counsel further contended that the prosecution sanction was illegal since the accused is an employee of the Punjab government and approval from the state government had not been obtained.
The petition also challenges the jurisdiction of the court. It stated that an earlier plea filed in the High Court was withdrawn in order to file a fresh petition with better facts, as the charge sheet had been filed later.
The accused also argued that charges have not yet been framed as the CFSL report is still awaited and related documents have not been supplied.
Appearing for co-accused Krishanu Sharda, advocate Matvinder Singh argued that neither the CBI counsel nor the defence counsel was heard before the order was passed. He added that it is also unclear under which provision of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) the order was issued.
He further submitted that the case has not yet been listed for framing of charges as copies of the prosecution documents are still being supplied to the accused.
Both accused have urged the court to withdraw the order taking cognisance in the interest of justice.
