A special CBI court here on Wednesday dismissed the regular bail plea of OP Rana, former reader to DGP, Punjab Vigilance Bureau, in a ₹13-lakh bribery case.
Holding that the case involved a “systematic misuse” of the anti-corruption enforcement framework for personal gain, special judge Bhawna Jain observed that the accused’s alleged role in the conspiracy, the seriousness of the offence and the apprehension that witnesses could be influenced weighed against his release on bail.
The CBI has alleged that Rana, along with co-accused Vikas Goyal, Raghav Goyal and Ankit Wadhwa, conspired to extort ₹13 lakh and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold-7 mobile phone from state tax officer Amit Kumar Charya on the false pretext of getting a vigilance complaint against him closed and preventing coercive action.
According to the prosecution, a fictitious vigilance complaint was generated against Charya using ChatGPT on April 28, 2026, in the name of a person identified as Rohit Devgan. The court noted that no such person could be traced at the mobile number or address mentioned in the complaint.
The court further noted that the complaint was forwarded to Rana, who allegedly met Charya at Vigilance Bhawan, Mohali, on April 29 and showed him the fabricated complaint.
The CBI alleged that chats, call records, recorded conversations, CCTV footage and other electronic evidence showed Rana’s involvement in the conspiracy. The court also took note of WhatsApp exchanges in which co-accused Raghav allegedly shared specifications of the mobile phone with Rana, who responded with a ‘thumbs-up emoji’.
{{/usCountry}}The CBI alleged that chats, call records, recorded conversations, CCTV footage and other electronic evidence showed Rana’s involvement in the conspiracy. The court also took note of WhatsApp exchanges in which co-accused Raghav allegedly shared specifications of the mobile phone with Rana, who responded with a ‘thumbs-up emoji’.
{{/usCountry}}The alleged bribe was accepted by co-accused Wadhwa, driver of Vikas Goyal, during a CBI trap at Sector-35 hotel on May 11. Wadhwa was apprehended with the ₹13 lakh and the mobile phone, the court noted.
The court also took into account the prosecution’s allegation that Rana switched off his mobile phone and fled after learning about the trap. Non-bailable warrants were subsequently issued against him. He surrendered before the court on June 1 after the Punjab and Haryana high court directed him to do so following dismissal of his pre-arrest bail plea.
Rana had argued that there was no direct evidence of him demanding the cash, that the mobile phone data had already been recovered by the CBI and that he could not tamper with evidence. He also submitted that the investigation was complete, the chargesheet had been filed and his continued custody was unnecessary.
Rejecting the plea, the court said there was a reasonable apprehension that Rana could influence prosecution witnesses, particularly his former driver, who is a material witness in the case. It observed that his suspension from service did not necessarily mean that he had lost his influence over the system or infrastructure.
“The grant of bail is not an automatic right,” the court observed, adding that the liberty of an accused has to be balanced against the cause of public justice.