The CBI has registered an FIR against the Punjab CM’s OSD, Rajbir Ghuman, and five others on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and searched eight locations, a day after the High Court ordered the probe. The Aam Aadmi Party called it a pre-poll misuse of central agencies; the BJP said the investigation was ordered by a court, not by it.
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Chandigarh: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday registered an FIR against Rajbir Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and five others on corruption allegations, acting on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and a report from the Enforcement Directorate, and searched eight locations, among them, according to the Chief Minister, his camp office in Chandigarh [Nikhil Saraf v. State of Punjab].
The High Court’s order of October 5, 2026, passed by a Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor on a public interest litigation filed by Nikhil Saraf, directed the CBI to register a case on the material forwarded by the ED and to report within two months.
What the FIR alleges
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the CBI said the FIR concerns allegations that the OSD and his associates influenced and manipulated postings of officers, including IAS and IPS officers, departmental proceedings, policy formulation, administrative approvals, tender conditions, licensing, land use conversion, property disputes and revenue matters in return for pecuniary benefits. It is also alleged, the agency said, that the accused public servants accessed drafts of orders and policies and passed them to private persons before they were issued.
The agency has booked six persons, including two public servants, middlemen and associates: Rajbir Ghuman, Nitin Gohal, Jitin Gohal alias Raja, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder and R.S. Nagra, along with unknown public servants and private persons.
The searches covered eight locations across Chandigarh, Mohali, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Patiala, Sangrur and Jalandhar at premises connected with the accused. The CBI said laptops, mobile phones and documents were seized and are being examined, and that further investigation is in progress. These are allegations at the stage of an FIR; no court has found anyone guilty, and those named are presumed innocent.
ALSO READ: Punjab And Haryana HC Orders CBI Probe Into ED’s Allegations Against Punjab CM’s OSD
‘BJP has started preparations for the Punjab elections’
Bhagwant Mann confirmed that a CBI raid was conducted at his camp office and accused the BJP of using the central agencies against his government. “The BJP has started preparations for the Punjab elections… Now, the ED and CBI will be misused in Punjab… in order to defame the Punjab government and me,” he said.
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, in a post on X, called the raid “the result of the BJP’s frustration” coming two months before the elections, and said the BJP wanted to fight the polls “with the help of ED-CBI”. Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj said the Centre was “repeating the exact Delhi elections playbook in Punjab”.
‘Orders were issued by the High Court, not by the BJP’
Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon rejected the charge. “The orders for the CBI investigation have been issued by the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court, not by the BJP,” he said, adding that the AAP government “should cooperate with the investigation”. BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu said the matter was “about the reputation of the CM house and office”.
The matter in the Supreme Court
The State of Punjab has challenged the High Court’s order before the Supreme Court. When the plea was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Tuesday morning, the Court declined a same-day listing and indicated it could be taken up within the next day or two. The State has contended that the High Court’s order is politically motivated, comes during an election period and raises federalism concerns.
The investigation is at a preliminary stage, and the allegations remain to be examined by the agency and, if a charge sheet is filed, tested in court.
Details: CBI FIR registered on October 6, 2026 on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor) in Nikhil Saraf v. State of Punjab, CWP-PIL-238-2026, order dated October 5, 2026 | Accused: Rajbir Ghuman, Nitin Gohal, Jitin Gohal alias Raja, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder, R.S. Nagra and unknown persons | Searches: eight locations in Punjab and Chandigarh.
Appearances: Not applicable.
