The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday ordered a CBI probe into allegations of corruption involving senior officers of the Punjab Government after holding that material shared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with the Punjab Police prima facie disclosed cognisable offences in high public office and required investigation.“The material shared by ED, prima facie, indicated involvement of high public officials in acts of corruption and at least required registering of FIR so that proper investigation in the matter would be carried out. This is not the response of the Punjab Police,” the bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor asserted.The court added there could hardly be any doubt that the information shared by ED with the Punjab Police relating to involvement of senior officers in various scams, if looked into, was “serious”. “It does reveal issues of significant public importance. Allegation of corruption in matters of transfer, framing policies, influencing tenders, awarding arms licence, amassing wealth by dubious means etc., are to be taken seriously when the allegations are against persons occupying senior positions in the state government. Inaction on part of the state/Punjab Police in taking cognisance of such serious allegations despite sharing of information by ED with the Punjab Police would constitute an issue of vital public interest,” the bench observed.The court was of the opinion that the information shared was not just ED’s opinion. It contained material “on the strength of which opinion with regard to contravention of law has been formed by the competent authority”. The allegations, taken on its face value, were serious and required investigation by the jurisdictional police.The bench added prima facie the allegations were substantiated with reference to various WhatsApp chats and other information. “Merits of the allegation can only be gone into at the stage of investigation/trial and we are not required to express any definite opinion on it,” the bench added.Referring to a fact sheet placed before the court during the course of hearing, the bench asserted it clearly showed that the information led to a journey with “all travel and no reaching”. “What was required at the level of the Punjab Police was to examine the contents shared by ED with it and if it did disclose commission of cognisable offence, which it does in our considered view, an FIR ought to have been registered and investigation ought to have proceeded. This is not what has happened,” the bench asserted.The court noted that a preliminary inquiry was, instead, undertaken and notices were issued to several persons referred to in the ED communication. The bench also questioned the police explanation that it sought legible copies of the documents from ED on August 28, after examining the documents on several occasions and issuing notices. “If the documents were not legible, then how notices were issued to the persons named in the documents supplied by ED to the Punjab Police?”The court also questioned how discussions with senior officers could have taken place when the documents themselves were allegedly not legible, and why notices were issued to 29 departments on the basis of such documents. It held that seeking legible copies after about a month of deliberations and issuance of notices rendered the police note “rather hollow”.“It lends credence to the petitioner’s contention that time is being bought only to formulate strategies to save guilty and manipulate the available evidence, or the evidence which may be collected, if a fair investigation is held in the matter,” the bench observed.The court added it was not impressed by the manner in which Punjab Police acted so far in the matter. “Therefore, we deem it appropriate to entrust investigation of the present case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which will register an FIR in the matter and proceed with the investigation forthwith”.Before parting with the order, the bench called for a report on the investigation’s outcome within two months. “The state of Punjab as well as Punjab Police would render all assistance to CBI in carrying out of fair investigation,” the bench added.The petitioner, practising lawyer Nikhil Saraf, had stated that communications had been sent by ED under Section 66(2) of the PMLA, to the state of Punjab. “Despite such facts as well as other facts of corruption in high public office, having been highlighted by the petitioner also, no action is being taken in the matter,” he added.According to the petition, the main allegations were against public persons, public servants and other private individuals working in Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). The petition said some of them were very close to the Chief Minister’s family.