New Delhi, July 9
The CBI has filed a chargesheet against Punjab Assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and a number of present and former IAS and state cadre officers for their suspected involvement in rigging the selection of 909 panchayat secretaries during 1997-2002 when the SAD was in power.

Kahlon was Rural Development and Panchayats Minister during that period and figures along with 14 others in the chargesheet filed by the CBI today in a special CBI court at Patiala. They have been charged under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 465, 468, 471 (all three dealing with acts of forgery) and Section 201 (removing evidence) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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; Peeyush Chander, then block development & panchayats officer, Aur; Puran Chand, then block development & panchayats officer, Abohar; Baljit Singh, then block development & panchayats officer, Ludhiana-II; Jagjit Singh, then block development & panchayats officer, Zira; Ajaib Singh, then block development & panchayats officer, Khera; Rakesh Pal, then block development & panchayats officer, Batala; and JS Kesar, then financial commissioner, Department of Rural Development & Panchayats.

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

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 as per the available interview assessment sheets, even after all this manipulation a number of candidates were not selected despite scoring more marks than the cut-off, but at the same time those who had secured less marks were selected, giving a go-by to all rules and norms.

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 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.