CHANDIGARH: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a 200-page affidavit before the Punjab and Haryana High Court detailing allegations of a “cash-for-transfers” racket and institutionalised corruption in Punjab, citing WhatsApp chats and other evidence.
The investigating agency alleged that draft transfer lists, policy documents and classified government files were leaked and manipulated by intermediaries linked to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
The affidavit was filed in reply to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Nikhil Saraf, demanding an independent probe into the ED allegations. The High Court will take up the matter on September 3.
According to the affidavit by ED Assistant Director Akshay Kumar, searches conducted between May 7 and 10 yielded Rs 20.98 lakh and incriminating digital evidence from a private intermediary’s premises.
The agency alleged that private person Nitin Gohal acted as an intermediary between interested persons and Rajbir Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and was involved in influencing transfers and postings of government officials, leaking confidential government documents, facilitating arms licences and securing government approvals.
In exchange, Gohal, in coordination with associates Rajbir Ghuman, Bir Devinder and Jitin Gohal, alias Raja, collected proceeds of crime to the tune of crores in the form of cash, land and kind.
The ED’s case stems from the PMLA investigation against Ajay Sehgal and associates of M/s Indian Cooperative Housing Building Society over allegedly facilitating CLUs (change of land use) through government authorities to some real estate firms.
During the probe, the agency raided the premises of Gohal, Sehgal, Suresh Kumar Bajaj and others linked to the society between May 7 and 10, during which it claimed to have recovered incriminating documents and information.
The agency further claimed that retrieved chats showed advance circulation and alteration of draft transfer lists involving senior IAS, IPS and PCS officers, DSPs and tehsildars prior to official publication, and alleged the intermediary was strategically placed in the CMO to access and extract classified files.
The affidavit also included the purported WhatsApp chats retrieved from Gohal’s mobile phones during the ED’s searches on his premises on May 8. In support of its allegations, the ED has cited 21 WhatsApp chats between September 20, 2023, and March 18, 2026, relating to transfers and postings of officials from various departments, including the police, Punjab Civil Services, food and civil supplies, Markfed and the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).
The affidavit by the apex investigation agency detailed the entire investigation, starting from the alleged fake CLUs and consent letters issued to Suntec City, and the alleged role of Nitin Gohal in government functioning, transfers and policy matters.
It also carried excerpts from Gohal’s detailed statement in response to over 40 questions about his sources of income and his relationship with people on the agency’s radar.
The High Court, while hearing the PIL on August 28, had sought replies by September 3 from the Punjab government, Punjab DGP, Punjab Vigilance Bureau’s Chief Director, ED and CBI. During the last hearing, Punjab Advocate General Maninderjit Singh Bedi challenged the maintainability of the PIL and the locus standi of the petitioner.
The ED has now requested the High Court to take its letters, reminders and information emails on record and issue necessary directions for a “free, fair and impartial investigation” in the matter.
The central investigating agency had earlier written two letters to Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav, the first letter on July 30 and then a reminder on August 7.
“The matter warrants examination under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and the Official Secrets Act, besides other applicable Indian Penal Code provisions, including Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record),” the ED had said, seeking an FIR against Gohal, Ghuman and others.
The DGP then forwarded the letter to the Punjab Bureau of Investigation in the state police to explore the legal course available to the police before deciding whether to register an FIR. Both Gohal and Ghuman have repeatedly denied the allegations.
In its third, two-page reply to the Punjab Bureau of Investigation (BoI) on August 31, the ED said the information and material had already been shared under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) through its communications dated July 30 and August 7, and declined a request from the Punjab Police seeking case details and investigation material.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal launched a scathing attack on the AAP government on the issue of alleged corruption and asked the state government that even after three letters written by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), why no FIR is being registered against Nitin Gohal and others.
In a post on X, he wrote, “3 LETTERS. MORE INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE. STILL NO FIR! The ED has once again, for the third time, written to Punjab Police, asking them to immediately register an FIR against Nitin Gohal and other accused in this high-profile corruption case that has rocked Punjab. In fact, the ED has now submitted additional evidence in the form of chats, screenshots and certified electronic records too! So what exactly is @PunjabPoliceInd waiting for? Guru Dokhi @BhagwantMann, if there is nothing to hide, why is your government running away from filing an FIR?”
BJP National Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said that he would like to tell how serious an impact this has on governance. The facts that the Enforcement Directorate has submitted in an affidavit before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, including confidential documents, draft lists of postings and transfers, government policies that are to be implemented in the future, their drafts and draft lists, are found on WhatsApp in the mobile phones of middlemen and touts.
“Is this not a serious issue?” he said. “Sensitive files could pertain to national security, could pertain to counter-terrorism—confidential information that is exchanged between the Central Government, investigative agencies, and the state government. Now, that information reaches the touts of Bhagwant Mann,” he added.
