The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has sought response from the Punjab government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a petition filed by a Mohali resident seeking a CBI probe into a criminal case registered against controversial deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Gursher Singh Sandhu.

The HC bench of Justice Sanjay Vashisth has sought responses from the respondents by September 7 on a plea filed by Baljinder Singh, the complainant in an FIR registered by the Punjab Police in Mohali on October 15, 2024, against Sandhu under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other sections.

Sandhu, a 2016-batch officer, was dismissed by the Punjab government on January 2, 2025, for allegedly facilitating the recording of an interview with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in September 2022, when he was lodged at the Kharar CIA facility. The HC ordered his reinstatement on September 2 after finding that his dismissal had been ordered without holding a departmental inquiry.

Singh, a realtor, has told the court that to ensure a fair and impartial investigation into the October 2024 FIR, the case should be handed over to the CBI, as the police authorities were “hand in glove” with the accused, who is a highly influential DSP of the Punjab Police.

According to the allegations, Sandhu met the complainant in 2023 and told him that he wanted to purchase a property but, due to his incumbency as a DSP, could not purchase it in his name. He allegedly obtained Singh’s signatures on blank papers under the pretext of purchasing the property.

“However, unbeknownst to the petitioner, accused Gursher Singh Sandhu misused the signatures, which were obtained in good faith, to wrongfully get various complaints registered against several persons on the basis of blank papers, while misusing his official position and government resources. He further forged the signatures of the petitioner, and entered into compromise with the parties against whom complaints were registered, and coerced them into paying hefty and copious amounts of money,” the petitioner alleged.

He added that he came to know of the alleged “misuse” only after receiving notices from the court in connection with a civil suit. Later, he discovered that the accused had allegedly forged his signatures to file complaints and entered into compromises with the concerned parties after taking substantial sums of money, the petition claimed.

The plea claims that despite registration of the FIR in October 2024, Sandhu has not been arrested. “He is in a position to influence the investigation and obstruct fair trial. The petitioner has serious concern that the accused may go scot free on account of lackadaisical approach of police authorities, who have so far been protecting the accused,” the plea stated, demanding that the probe be transferred to the CBI.