The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a chargesheet against the Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Mr Nirmal Singh Kahlon and 14 other individuals in a corruption case pertaining to extensive bribery in the recruitment of panchayat secretaries during his tenure as minister of rural development and panchayats from 1997 to 2002.
It is alleged that the minister conspired with other accused persons to indulge in corruption, cheating and forgery of records during the selection of 909 panchayat secretaries abjectly abusing their official positions. Mr Kahlon and the others have been charged under Sections 120-B, 465, 468, 471 and 201 of Indian Penal Code and Section 13(1)(d) r/w 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The case against the Speaker was registered on June 26, 2003, following the intervention of the Punjab & Haryana high court which directed the CBI to probe the complaints.
A communiqué issued by the investigating agency stated: “The investigation revealed that large sums of money changed hands during the selection process. Though the director, rural development & panchayats, Punjab, was the appointing authority for the post of panchayat secretary, the minister, his private secretary and the financial commissioner of rural development and panchayats took undue interest in the matter.
“No category-wise consolidated merit-list was prepared and selection was made in excess of the quota fixed for a particular selection category or less than the quota fixed for another selection category without observing the due procedures laid down. The selection process was arbitrary and based on monetary considerations and not on merit or qualification.”
Notably, the CBI has filed the chargesheet at a special court in Patiala pending mandatory sanction for prosecuting Mr Kahlon, which is being stoutly resisted by the incumbent Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government.
The court has accepted the chargesheet and summoned the accused to appear on August 17, 2010.