E-Paper
All travel, no reaching’ : HC on ED letters probe by Punjab Police
Court questions how the probe continued for a month, when ED documents were not legible, as claimed by Punjab Police
Prefer HTon Google
As the Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday handed over to the CBI the probe into Enforcement Directorate (ED) allegations of high-level corruption in the Punjab government, it raised questions over Punjab Police’s prolonged and unexplained delay in conducting the investigation despite the seriousness of the allegations.
“...fact sheet clearly shows that the information shared by ED with Punjab Police has led to a journey with all travel and no reaching,” the division bench of chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor remarked in its 66-page judgment.
The court was particularly critical of the fact that Rajbir Singh Ghuman, officer on special duty (OSD) to chief minister Bhagwant Mann and one of the key persons named in the ED material, was neither associated with the preliminary inquiry nor asked to give his response.
The observations came as the court dissected the Punjab Police’s handling of three letters sent by the ED to the director general of police (DGP), seeking an FIR against private individual Nitin Gohal and others for allegedly using their influence to interfere in government functioning.
The ED, in its communication to the DGP, had alleged that Gohal acted as an intermediary between interested persons and Rajbir Ghuman, and was involved in influencing transfers and postings of government officials, leaking confidential government documents, facilitating arms licences and securing government approvals in lieu of alleged monetary and other benefits.
The court observed that according to the note supplied by Punjab Police, ED’s first letter was received at the DGP office on August 3, who marked it to the Bureau of Investigation.
Discussions took place between the officers to examine the letter legally and some persons were called for recording their statements up to August 24. Letters were issued to 29 departments and some more persons were associated with the probe.
On August 28, a day after court took cognisance of the matter, police wrote to ED about “discrepancies and anomalies” and asked to depute an ED officer along with relevant record.
The court said instead of registering the FIR, the police commenced a preliminary inquiry and summoned some persons.
“What was revealed by these persons is not known. The fact sheet only states that these persons sought time in the matter. Interestingly, Rajbir Ghuman, who is posted as OSD in the office of the chief minister is neither associated in the preliminary inquiry nor his response is sought in the matter,” the court remarked.
The court also considered Nitin Gohal’s statement to ED in which he was confronted with various WhatsApp chats in possession of ED. The court said his response directly referred to taking favours from Ghuman in matters of transfers and policy decisions as also arranging tickets and hotels for his travel.
It further said if the material shared by ED relating to involvement of senior officers in various scams was looked into, then there could hardly be any doubt that the information shared with police was “serious”.
“It does reveal issues of significant public importance. Allegation of corruption in matters of transfer, framing policies, influencing tenders, awarding arms licence, amassing wealth by dubious means, etc., are to be taken seriously when the allegations are against persons occupying senior positions in the state government,” the court noted.
It further pointed out that if the documents supplied by ED were not legible, as claimed by the Punjab Police, then how notices were issued to the persons named in the documents supplied by ED.
“What kind of discussion with high-ranking officers took place when the documents themselves were not legible remains unexplained. Issuance of notices to 29 departments to seek information on illegible documents is equally surprising. If the documents supplied by ED were not legible, then on the very first opportunity, when it was examined by the Punjab Police, legible copies ought to have been demanded from ED,” the court asserted.
It remarked that asking for legible copies after about a month of extensive deliberation and issuance of notice to the persons referred to in ED’s communication rendered the police note rather “hollow” and lent support to the petitioner’s allegation that “time is being bought only to formulate strategies to save guilty and manipulate the available evidence”.
During the hearing, ED was represented by additional solicitor general Satya Pal Jain and ED’s senior panel counsel Lokesh Narang. The Punjab government had roped in senior advocate and ED matters’ specialist Vikram Chaudhari.
