Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate allegations of alleged irregularities and corruption involving senior officials of the Punjab government.
The order came while the court was hearing a petition alleging that various illegal activities were taking place, including alleged payments for transfers, influencing policy decisions and securing government tenders.
The petitioner claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had sent letters to the Punjab government regarding the alleged activities, but no action was taken on the information.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor had reserved its order after hearing arguments from all parties over several hearings. The bench had also considered arguments concerning the maintainability of the petition, among other issues.
Appearing before the bench, the ED alleged that the Punjab government had failed to act on a communication sent by the agency’s Jalandhar zonal office to the state’s Director General of Police (DGP).
Senior advocate and Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain, appearing for the ED, argued that the state government had failed to discharge its constitutional and administrative responsibilities. He alleged that instead of following “Raj Dharma” (duty of governance), the government had followed “political dharma”.
Jain told the court that the ED did not want to give the matter a political colour. He said that was why the agency had written to the Punjab Police asking for registration of a confidential FIR.
The CBI will now examine the allegations and circumstances raised in the petition as part of its investigation.
