‘30 yrs of Bhullar assets in 30 minutes’: Court slams Punjab Vigilance FIR as ‘cryptic’

A Chandigarh court on Thursday came down heavily on the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) for its “very cryptic” FIR against the arrested and suspended DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar, observing that the state agency appeared to have assessed his 30 years of assets “within a time of less than half an hour”.

Extending Bhullar’s CBI custody by five days till November 11, Special CBI Judge Bhawna Jain observed that the VB appeared to have assessed Bhullar’s alleged disproportionate assets, spread over 30 years of service, “within less than half an hour” of receiving secret information.

The court’s observations came amid what is seen as a “saga of two FIRs” — a tug-of-war between the CBI and the VB over who first registered the disproportionate assets case against Bhullar. Both agencies filed FIRs on October 29, following Bhullar’s arrest by the CBI in a ₹5-lakh bribery trap on October 16 through alleged conduit Kirshanu Sharda. The CBI made its FIR public immediately, while the Vigilance kept its three-page version under wraps for nearly a week.

The court noted that even Bhullar’s defence downloaded the Vigilance FIR from a mobile app, as it had not been uploaded officially. One page was missing from the version submitted in the court, and the bureau failed to produce the original copy or verify its upload time, further undermining its credibility.

Jain also expressed surprise at the silence of the VB’s prosecutor Harbhajan Kaur, who neither defended the bureau nor marked her presence during the hearing. “It is surprising that the case of the Punjab Police Vigilance is being presented on behalf of the accused,” the judge remarked, adding that the reasons for the silence “are obvious”.

Rejecting the defence plea that the CBI lacked jurisdiction, the court ruled that the Central agency was empowered to investigate since the assets and recoveries were made in Chandigarh, a Union Territory. Citing the Supreme Court rulings, the judge said the CBI required no state consent for such cases.

Sources said Bhullar and his alleged middleman Kirshanu were being confronted face-to-face daily in CBI custody, but were not fully cooperating. The court agreed with the CBI that Bhullar, a senior officer aware of his rights, was being evasive about his financial dealings, benami assets and contacts.

The CBI told the court that further custodial interrogation was crucial to trace hidden lockers, digital data, money trails and benami holders. It cited its November 4 searches at seven locations in Patiala and Ludhiana that led to the seizure of ₹20.5 lakh, luxury items, digital devices and over 50 property documents, indicating a continuing pattern of concealment and laundering.

Calling the offences grave and financially complex, the court granted the CBI five more days to “follow the money” — a decision that has left the Punjab VB under scrutiny.

The judgment, one source summed up, had raised an uncomfortable question within the state establishment: Was the Vigilance FIR an act of investigation or desperation?