SC judge Justice Sheel Nagu recuses from hearing Punjab govt’s plea against HC order for CBI probe

Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta submitted on behalf of the petitioner that Justice Nagu had dealt with cases involving the AAP-led Punjab Government during his tenure as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court before his elevation to the top court and had passed certain orders dismissing petitions filed by the PIL petitioner on whose petition the high court passed the impugned order. Gupta, however, clarified that the state was not relying on those orders.

“These are very difficult times. One does not know where the attack will come from… There are 17 other Benches and it can go to any other Bench,” Justice Datta said.

“We will immediately sign this order,” Justice Datta said.

Now, CJI Surya Kant is likely to assign the Punjab Government’s petition to another Bench.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday deferred the hearing on the Punjab Government’s petition to October 9 as the file reached late.

The Punjab Government moved the Supreme Court on October 6 challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order for a CBI probe into allegations of corruption linked to the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s office and to submit a report in two months. It has sought a stay on the operation of the high court’s order pending final adjudication of its petition.

“During election time, these kinds of cases are being trumped up… It’s a clear case of federal structure being violated,” Singh had told a Bench led by CJI Surya Kant on Tuesday.

The Punjab Government’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the high court October 5 order – which came on a PIL filed by advocate Nikhil Saraf — was filed at around 1.42 am on Tuesday.

A High Court Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor had on Monday directed the CBI to register a criminal case to probe into allegations against Rajbir Singh Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister Mann. It had also directed the State of Punjab and the Punjab Police to provide all assistance to the CBI for conducting a fair probe.