SC refuses to entertain suspended Punjab Police DIG’s plea against CBI probe

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition filed by suspended Punjab Police Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Harcharan Singh Bhullar seeking a stay on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in two FIRs alleging amassing of disproportionate assets against him.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant observed that the Punjab and Haryana High Court was already seized of Bhullar’s petitions challenging the CBI’s jurisdiction to investigate the cases.

Asking the petitioner to pursue his remedies before the High Court, the Bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi, declined to interfere at this stage.

Sensing the apex court’s disinclination to interfere with the matter, senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary, appearing for Bhullar, sought permission to withdraw the writ petition, with liberty to pursue it before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The CJI Kant-led Bench accordingly dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

During the hearing, Chaudhary argued that the P&H High Court was wrong in granting a month-long adjournment without considering the prayer for interim relief. He contended that the CBI had “wrongfully assumed jurisdiction” in violation of Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, since Punjab had withdrawn its general consent for CBI investigations.

On the other hand, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, informed the apex court that regular bail had been denied to Bhullar and that a chargesheet had already been filed in the case.

Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court declined to grant Bhullar any interim relief in his writ petitions. In its order dated December 4, a Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Sanjiv Berry said that the arguments in the matter had already commenced and that the interim relief sought was “more or less akin to the final relief”.

“The text and context of the interim relief, as prayed for above, is more or less akin to the final relief, and since the arguments have already commenced, this Court, for the time being, declines the prayer for interim relief,” the P&H High Court said, while listing the matter for further hearing on January 12, 2026.

Bhullar, a 2007-batch IPS officer who was serving as DIG, Ropar Range, was arrested by the CBI on October 16 after he was allegedly caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a scrap dealer. He has also been booked in a separate case for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

During searches at his residence in Chandigarh, the CBI seized cash worth over Rs 7.36 crore, jewellery valued at more than Rs 2.32 crore, 26 branded watches and documents relating to nearly 50 immovable properties in the names of his family members.

A CBI court in Chandigarh had earlier extended Bhullar’s judicial custody, while the Punjab government suspended him from service with effect from October 16, reiterating its zero-tolerance policy towards corruption.

IANS