Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has quashed a summoning order and all subsequent proceedings in the alleged Punjab food grain tender scam against contractor Telu Ram in proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), directing the trial court to decide the matter afresh.Justice Aman Chaudhary passed the order after noting the petitioners’ contention that cognisance of the complaint had been taken without affording them an opportunity of hearing, making the proceedings non-compliant with Section 223(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).The petitioners’ counsel had also relied on Supreme Court’s judgement in Parvinder Singh vs Directorate of Enforcement. The order recorded that the respondents, despite their best efforts, were unable to rebut the applicability of the judgement, point out any distinguishing features or cite any contrary precedent.Justice Chaudhary held that the impugned order dated Oct 19, 2024, and all subsequent proceedings arising from it were liable to be quashed qua the present petitioners. The high court, however, directed the trial court to consider and decide the matter afresh in accordance with law.The alleged scam, initially unearthed by the state’s vigilance bureau in Aug 2022, involves alleged corruption, favouritism, and irregularities in the allotment of labour, cartage, and transportation tenders for food grains during 2020–2021. It was alleged that fake or fabricated vehicle registration numbers were submitted for transporting heavy food grains from grain markets to storage godowns. These invalid numbers were allegedly overlooked by district tender committees, enabling systemic embezzlement, fake billing, and the physical siphoning or swapping of grain stocks.
