The Enforcement Directorate has for a third time sought registration of an FIR against a number of private persons and senior officials of Punjab government allegedly involved in corrupt practices.
In a third letter, written to DGP Gaurav Yadav on August 31, the ED has sought that the FIR be registered against the said persons under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and copy of the same be supplied to the federal agency at the earliest.
ED’s ongoing action is triggered by searches conducted between May 7 and May 10 at the premises of Ajay Sehgal, Nitin Gohal and Suresh Kumar Bajaj in connection with a money-laundering investigation regarding a multi-crore land and Change of Land Use fraud. It is connected with the Rs. 348 crore money laundering case connected to Suntec city project.
The matter pertains to an alleged “large-scale and institutionalised corruption” allegedly involving senior state officials as alleged in a PIL filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court last week. On August 28, the High Court sought to know from the Punjab government what action it proposed to take on allegations of “large-scale and institutionalised corruption” involving senior state officials, observing that the “nature of allegations made are serious” and would require a “careful response from the respondents”.
A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor also directed the ED to place before it the communications allegedly sent to the Punjab DGP and sought the State’s stand on the matter.
“Before we proceed to take cognizance of the grievance raised…it would be appropriate to call upon the counsel representing ED, to place before the court the communications sent to the DGP…as is alleged by the petitioner. If such communication is sent, we would also like to know from the Advocate-General, Punjab, as to what stand/action is proposed to be taken by the State police and the State itself,” the bench said while listing the matter for September 3.
The directions came on a petition filed by Advocate Nikhil Saraf alleging abuse of official position, criminal conspiracy and manipulation of governmental, tender and administrative processes. The petition alleges that senior Punjab officials were involved in various scams, including “cash for transfers; cash for getting favourable policies; cash for tenders, and such other illegal activities”.
The Punjab police had sought more details from the ED citing that the documents/ transcripts annexed by ED while seeking registration of FIR were “not legible”.
Responding to Punjab Police’s communication, ED on August 31 wrote: “It is submitted that the information along with material was shared under Section 66(2) of the PMLA-2002 vide this office’s communications dated July 30 and August 7 and via email on August 7 only after due examination, investigation and assessment by this office and approval of the competent authority, and upon this office being satisfied that the material disclosed contravention of the provisions of law administered by your office. Section 66(2) casts an obligation on this office to share such information with the concerned agency for necessary action; it does not, in itself, contemplate or require the receiving agency to call for further authentication, chain of custody or original source data as a pre-condition to registration of FIR”.
“It is requested that the FIR may kindly be registered forthwith on the basis of the information and material already provided, as now supplemented with legible copies and the requisite certificate, and a copy of the FIR so registered may be furnished to this office at the earliest, in any case before the next date of hearing i.e. September 3, 2026 fixed in CWP-PIL-238-2026”, the ED wrote.
“Any further material or record that may be required by your office, subsequent to and strictly for the purpose of investigation after registration of the FIR, shall be provided by this office as and when requested, in accordance with the law. Any delay in registration of FIR may lead to destruction/ tampering of evidence and hence FIR is required to be registered urgently”, the ED wrote in its letter dated August 31.
