Ex-Union minister Vijay Sampla says Bhagwant Mann govt hiding OSD files from CBI

Jalandhar. Former Union minister and ex-Punjab BJP president Vijay Sampla on Saturday alleged that the Bhagwant Mann government had “itself confessed” to deep-rooted corruption in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) by withholding original records from the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Sampla was reacting to the CBI’s counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court in the corruption probe involving Rajbir Singh Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The Punjab BJP said the affidavit shows that the state’s Chief Secretary is stalling the investigation.

“If the Mann government and its CMO officials have nothing to hide, why are they terrified of handing over original files?” Sampla asked.

He alleged that the Punjab Police had first sat on seven ED communications about middlemen trading in transfers, postings and tenders. “Now, defying explicit directions from both the Supreme Court and the Punjab & Haryana High Court to cooperate ‘in letter and spirit’, the Chief Secretary is supplying incomplete photocopies under the lame excuse of ‘administrative inconvenience’ and appointing unconnected nodal officers to sabotage the probe,” he said.

The BJP claimed that WhatsApp chats and draft transfer lists recovered from intermediaries linked to the CMO had laid bare “the nexus of corruption”. It said the AAP government’s “Kattar Imaandar” (staunchly honest) image had been “shredded” before the country’s highest court.

Calling the obstruction a blatant contempt of court orders, the party demanded that the state government hand over all original documents to the CBI at once and stop misusing state machinery to shield “corrupt insiders”. It also sought strict action against officials blocking the court-monitored probe.

The CBI registered an FIR against Ghuman and five others in October after the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered a probe based on material sent by the ED. The case relates to alleged manipulation of officer transfers and government decisions for money. The Punjab government has challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court. On October 12, the apex court refused to stay the FIR and barred coercive action against Ghuman till the next hearing on January 21, 2027, while directing the state to cooperate with the investigation.