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The Enforcement Directorate’s third consecutive letter to the Punjab Police seeking registration of an FIR has intensified the political and legal confrontation between the Central agency and the Bhagwant Mann government, with the two sides now taking sharply different positions on whether sufficient evidence has been supplied to begin a criminal investigation. In its letter dated August 31, the ED urged the Punjab Police to immediately register an FIR on the basis of information shared with the state government regarding an alleged network involving transfers and postings of officials, hawala transactions and land dealings. The agency claimed it had already shared the relevant material under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and rejected the state police’s demand for additional records before registering the case. The latest letter came in response to a communication from the Punjab Bureau of Investigation dated August 28. The state police had sought the presence of an authorised ED officer as well as complete records, including original electronic data, statements and chain of custody documents. The ED maintained that these requirements could not be treated as a precondition for registration of an FIR. It also pointed out that more than 30 days had passed since its first communication and warned that further delay could create a risk of evidence being tampered with or destroyed.
The agency said that its investigation, including searches conducted in May, brought to light the alleged role of Nitin Gohal as an intermediary in a network involving requests for police transfers, transfer or d e r s b e i n g leaked before their formal issuance, movement of cash through hawala channels and land transactions. The ED has also alleged that Rajbir Singh Ghuman, an Officer on Special Duty to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, figured in the material related to the alleged transfer and posting network. The agency has placed its communications with the Punjab government before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Punjab government, however, has refused to register an FIR on the basis of what it says is inadequate and unusable material. Punjab minister and Aam Aadmi Party state president Aman Arora said the government would register a case if the ED supplied clear and complete evidence to the police. He claimed that the documents and snapshots supplied by the agency were not legible and said the ED had failed to provide the material sought by the state police. Arora also accused the BJP-led Centre of using Central agencies to target the AAP government and its leaders. He described the ED action as part of a political campaign to defame the state government. Arora also defended himself against allegations relating to a land development project, arguing that changes in layout plans and in change of land use permissions, cited by the ED, had taken place under successive governments, including the SAD-BJP and Congress governments. He said such changes were legally permissible and denied any wrongdoing.
He further pointed out that two FIRs forming the basis of the matter had already been quashed by the court. The ED has rejected the government’s argument. In its latest response, the agency maintained that detailed investigative material had already been supplied to the Punjab DGP and that the state police was legally required to act on information relating to a scheduled offence. The agency also said its representative had gone to deliver the record personally on September 1, but an AIG in the Punjab Police allegedly refused to accept it, following which the documents were served through email. The political opposition has seized on the standoff. The BJP has demanded Mann’s resignation, arguing that an alleged transfer and posting network could not have operated around the Chief Minister’s Office without the knowledge of the political leadership. BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia alleged that the ED material pointed to a rate card for transfers and postings of senior officials, including IAS and IPS officers. These remain allegations and have not been established by a court. The Shiromani Akali Dal has gone a step further, demanding an independent CBI investigation. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, accompanied by senior leaders including Bikram Singh Majithia, met Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Thursday and sought a time-bound, court-monitored CBI probe into the allegations concerning the Chief Minister’s Office.
The party also demanded the resignation of Mann and registration of FIRs in connection with the allegations. Majithia has emerged as one of the most vocal political attackers of the Mann government on the issue. He has repeatedly targeted the alleged role of Rajbir Ghuman and demanded that an FIR be registered against Ghuman, Nitin Gohal and others if the material cited by the ED is genuine. The SAD leader has also questioned how an alleged network involving government transfers, postings and access to official information could function without political protection. His broader argument has been that the allegations should not be handled by the same state machinery whose officials are mentioned in the accusations, and that an independent investigation is therefore necessary. The political confrontation has meanwhile widened beyond the ED case. Majithia has separately demanded a probe into allegations surrounding the release of social media influencer Gurinder Singh alias Guri Chahal, who was facing rape and other allegations.
Majithia displayed purported call records, audio material and video clips which he claimed indicated discussions on payment of Rs 5 crore to facilitate the accused’s release. The allegations have also triggered demands from the BJP and SAD for an independent investigation. Majithia sought initiation of either a CBI probe or an investigation monitored by the High Court. The AAP has rejected these allegations as politically motivated. AAP leader Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal accused Majithia of indulging in political mudslinging and demanded evidence to substantiate his claims. Another AAP leader, Baltej Pannu, described the allegations as baseless and accused the opposition of running a campaign to malign Mann. The person at the centre of the purported recordings, Simranjit Singh Hundal, has also denied that any such financial deal took place. The dispute has therefore moved beyond a routine disagreement between two investigating agencies. With the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections approaching, the ED allegations have become a major political weapon for the BJP and SAD, while AAP is portraying the episode as an attempt by the Centre to destabilise and discredit an elected state government.