Chargesheet against Punjab speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon

The CBI Saturday filed a chargesheet in a special court against Punjab assembly speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and two senior officers for “indulging in corrupt practices and committing administrative irregularities” in the selection of 909 Panchayat secretaries in 2000.

Kahlon was Rural Development and Panchayats Minister when the irregularities took place. A CBI spokesperson said the probe had revealed that large sums of money changed hands during the selection process. “The accused did not follow legal advice based on the judgments of the Supreme Court for fixing percentage of interview marks. A number of candidates with better qualifications were awarded less interview marks and candidates who were having lower qualifications were awarded more marks,” he said.

As per available interview assessment sheets even after the manipulation, a number of candidates were not selected despite scoring more marks than the cut-off.

The Punjab Police had registered a case on June 26, 2003, against Kahlon and 13 others after the Congress government came to power. The case was later transferred to the CBI.

The accused, beside Kahlon, are Mandeep Singh, then director (Rural Development and Panchayats), Pardeep Singh Kaleka, then divisional deputy director (Panchayats), Ferozepur; CL Premy, then deputy director (Panchayats); JP Singla, then deputy director (Land Development); Kanwal Sher Singh, then additional deputy commissioner, Ropar; and many others.

Two other accused are PS Sodhi, then deputy CEO, Sangrur, and since dismissed from service, and Vikas Sharma, then private secretary to the minister.

The accused had filed petitions in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for quashing the case claiming that the state Vigilance Bureau had already chargesheeted some of the accused in a similar case.