A special judge of the CBI court in Chandigarh has dismissed a plea filed by Rajbir Singh Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking contempt of court proceedings against the entire CBI team for allegedly leaking the FIR registered against him and others in an alleged corruption case.In his application before the CBI court, Ghuman claimed that while the CBI had obtained an order from the court to withhold the FIR from being uploaded online, the document had been made available to the media and the public, allegedly to tarnish his image.The CBI had sought exemption from uploading the FIR, citing the sensitive nature of the case. Ghuman’s counsel argued that contempt of court proceedings should be initiated against the CBI team investigating the case.Opposing the application, Narender Singh, public prosecutor for the CBI, argued that on October 6, 2026, at around 2:25 pm, the investigating officer (IO) had submitted the FIR to the court along with an application seeking exemption from uploading it to the CBI website at that stage of the investigation.The application stated that disclosing the identities and other details of the accused mentioned in the FIR could lead to the tampering of evidence and prejudice a fair and effective investigation.Another application was also filed by the investigating officer before the court on October 6, 2026, seeking search warrants under Section 96 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to conduct searches as part of the investigation.The public prosecutor submitted that since the searches were yet to be conducted, disclosing the contents of the FIR could alert the accused, who might otherwise tamper with or destroy evidence. Therefore, the CBI had approached the court seeking exemption from uploading the FIR at that stage of the investigation.The court granted the exemption to ensure a fair investigation and preserve the sanctity of the evidence. Following the issuance of search warrants, CBI teams conducted searches at 11 locations on October 6, 2026, as part of the ongoing investigation.The CBI argued that details about the identities of the accused and the locations became public during the course of the investigation and were widely reported across various media platforms.The FIR was uploaded on October 7, 2026, after the searches had been conducted. The CBI maintained that the action did not amount to contempt of court and was consistent with the spirit of the Supreme Court’s directions in Youth Bar Association of India versus Union of India.The prosecution further argued that the question of the FIR being leaked confidentially or without authorisation did not arise and, consequently, there was no question of contempt of court. It maintained that the FIR was uploaded only after the searches had been completed, once the purpose of withholding it had been served.After hearing the arguments, the CBI court dismissed Ghuman’s application.