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‘One does not know where attack will come from’: SC judge recuses from Punjab CBI probe
The CBI registered a 251-page FIR naming Bhagwant Mann’s officer on special duty Rajbir Singh Ghuman and five others.
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Justice Sheel Nagu on Friday recused himself from hearing the Punjab government’s challenge to a high court order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register a criminal case into alleged corruption linked to chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s office, with the Supreme Court observing that it did not know “where the attack will come from” if a judge concerned did not withdraw himself from a case.
A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu was to take up the state government’s plea against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s October 5 order, but Justice Nagu opted out after the issue of his previous judicial dealings with some of the petitioners was raised on Thursday.
“These are very difficult times. One does not know where the attack will come from,” remarked Justice Datta, after senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing in the matter, maintained that the earlier cases handled by Justice Nagu were unrelated to the present proceedings.
“No, no. These are very difficult times. One does not know where the attack will come from. There are 17 other benches and it can go to any other bench,” said Justice Datta, indicating that the matter could be assigned to another bench.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the Punjab government, suggested that the matter be listed on Monday. “Let this matter then come up on Monday,” he said.
“We will immediately sign this order,” Justice Datta responded.
The recusal came a day after the Supreme Court deferred the state government’s plea by a day to enable Justice Nagu to examine the case papers. On Thursday, Singh had sought an interim direction restraining the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from taking further steps in the matter, but Justice Datta declined to consider the request without giving his colleague an opportunity to peruse the petition.
Singh had also flagged that Justice Nagu, while serving as chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court, had dealt with some matters concerning two of the petitioners in the Supreme Court proceedings -- Punjab director general of police Gaurav Yadav and the state’s chief director. Singh clarified that the earlier proceedings were unrelated to the present case, while Justice Nagu said he would examine the file before deciding whether he could hear the matter.
The Punjab government’s challenge arises from the high court’s October 5 direction to the CBI to register a first information report (FIR) and investigate allegations of corruption involving the chief minister’s office. The high court had said the material supplied by the ED prima facie indicated the involvement of senior public officials and directed the CBI to submit an investigation report within two months.
The CBI registered a 251-page FIR naming Bhagwant Mann’s officer on special duty (OSD), Rajbir Singh Ghuman, and five others, alleging that they operated a network to manipulate government postings, administrative decisions, tenders, licences and other official processes in return for bribes. The agency also carried out searches at eight locations across Punjab.
The case arises out of communications sent by the ED to Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav between July 24 and August 12, flagging alleged corruption involving Ghuman and others. The high court directed the CBI to act after a public interest litigation alleged that the state police had failed to act on the information supplied by the central agency.
The Mann government has challenged the high court’s order on the grounds that the direction to register a CBI case was issued without sufficient material to establish a cognisable offence and raised concerns over the federal structure.
The case has acquired political significance with Punjab’s assembly elections due early next year, as the state government has accused the BJP-led Centre of using central agencies to target its political opponents.
