Jalandhar, Oct 13 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against Rajbir Ghuman, officer on special duty to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and his associates taking cognisance of a CBI FIR against them for alleged corruption related to postings of IAS and IPS officers, officials said on Tuesday.
The development comes after the Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to take any coercive action in this case as it refused to stay the FIR or halt the investigation.
The ED filed its criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the officials said, adding the agency may soon carry out fresh searches, summon the accused and initiate provisional attachment of assets.
The CBI filed the FIR last week after the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered it to register a case to probe the charges that the accused allegedly influenced the postings of IAS and IPS officers in return for pecuniary advantage.
“The CBI has booked six persons, including two public servants, middlemen and associates, namely Rajbir Ghuman, OSD to the Chief Minister, Punjab, Nitin Gohal, Jitin Gohal alias Raja, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder, R S Nagra; and unknown public servant(s) and private person(s),” a CBI spokesperson had said in a statement.
According to the statement, the FIR was registered pursuant to the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and receipt of a report from the ED to investigate allegations of corruption against Ghuman and his associates “for influencing and manipulating postings of officers, including that of IAS and IPS officers, department proceedings, matters pertaining to policy formulation, administrative approvals, tender conditions, licensing matters, land use conversion matters, property disputes, and revenue and land related issues in lieu of pecuniary benefits.
The CBI spokesperson had said it is alleged that the accused public servants purportedly accessed and provided drafts of orders and policies to private persons before the government issued them.
The ED had raided Ghuman’s alleged associates in May after it booked a PMLA case taking cognisance of a November 2022 Punjab Police FIR filed against the promoters of a realty project named Suntec City. PTI NES KVK
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