Chandigarh: Rajbir Singh Ghuman, OSD to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, on Friday skipped a second CBI summons in connection with the probe into the alleged cash-for-transfer scam. However, he submitted a legal response to the notice, said sources.Sources said that the CBI issued a summons for Ghuman to appear before the agency at its Sector 30 office in Chandigarh on Friday afternoon. The notices were delivered around 8am both at the chief minister’s camp office, where Ghuman operated, and to his native residence in Gharachon village in Sangrur. He sent a legal response instead of appearing in person, officials said.Ghuman had not shown up for the forst summons on on Wednesday. At the time, officials in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said he had not received the summons. The same day, Ghuman moved a CBI court, seeking initiation of contempt-of-court proceedings against the team probing the case registered by the central agency against him.In his application before the court, Ghuman said CBI had filed an application seeking exemption from uploading the FIR related to the case registered against him and other accused persons. While the agency obtained an order not to upload the FIR, the FIR was allegedly leaked to the media and public, which, he alleged, was aimed at tarnishing Ghuman’s image.Apart from Ghuman, others named by CBI in the FIR include brothers Nitin and Jitin Gohal, Romi Raja Mahajan, Bir Devinder and RS Nagra, as well as unknown public servants and private individuals. The alleged offences are said to have occurred between 2023 and 2026. The FIR has been filed on the complaint of an assistant director of Enforcement Directorate.
