CHANDIGARH: Rajbir Singh Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, did not appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the second time today but is learnt to have sent a legal reply to the notice issued by the investigating agency.
Sources said the CBI had summoned Ghuman to appear before it this afternoon, post-lunch, at its Sector 30 office after affixing chaspaa notices on the walls and gates of the residences of the accused. Not only Ghuman but also others, including Chuspinder Singh Chahal, whose chats were included in the 251-page FIR registered by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had been asked to join the investigation today. However, they too did not appear before the agency.
It is learnt that fresh summons were issued to Ghuman and the other accused early this morning by the CBI. The notices had been served at the Chief Minister's camp office in Sector 2, Chandigarh, and at Ghuman's residence in his native village of Gharachon in Sangrur district. They were pasted on the walls of his house early this morning.
The CBI had registered a case against Ghuman and five others, including Nitin Gohal, Jitin Gohal, Romi Raja Mahajan, Rajdeep Singh Nagra and Bir Devinder Singh, following a Punjab and Haryana High Court order directing a probe into allegations of corruption involving public officials. The case concerns alleged payments for postings, favourable policy decisions and tenders.
While speaking to the media yesterday, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said his OSD would join the investigation if the notices were properly served. He also denied any wrongdoing in the functioning of his office.
Ghuman had earlier also avoided appearing before the agency on Wednesday, when he was summoned for questioning. Officials in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) had then stated that he had not received the summons. He also decided to wait for the Supreme Court to take up the state government's plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court order directing the CBI to register a case and investigate the allegations.
However, today, Justice Sheel Nagu of the Supreme Court recused himself from hearing the Punjab government's challenge to a High Court order directing the CBI to register a criminal case into alleged corruption linked to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's office. The Supreme Court observed 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 scheduled to hear the matter when Justice Datta observed that the case could not be heard by Justice Nagu. The Justice Datta-led Bench said it would sign an order directing that the matter be placed before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) for the constitution of another Bench.
Ghuman had also separately approached the special CBI court in Chandigarh, seeking contempt proceedings against the investigating team over the publication of the FIR. The court issued notice to the CBI and directed the agency to file its response by October 12.