Special CBI court extends Bhullar’s judicial remand by 14 days; suspended officer under scanner for massive illicit wealth
Chandigarh, October 31, 2025 (Bharat Khabarnama Bureau) – Trouble continues to mount for suspended DIG Ropar Range Harcharan Singh Bhullar, as the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has registered a disproportionate assets (DA) case for allegedly accumulating wealth far beyond his known sources of income. The case has been registered at the VB police station, Mohali, marking a major development in one of the state’s most high-profile corruption investigations.
According to sources, preliminary findings reveal that Bhullar possesses properties, landholdings and financial assets disproportionate to his declared income to the Punjab Police in his annual income tax return as well as annual property returns, indicating large-scale misuse of his official position. The Vigilance Bureau would now conduct a comprehensive enquiry into his movable and immovable assets, both within the state and outside the country.
Bhullar served in VB twice and pledged against corruption
Mentionably, he had served the VB for two terms from 2007 to 2009 and from 2019 to 2021 and had took the solemn pledge to fight with and eliminate corruption from public offices during the annual vigilance awareness weeks in his tenure.
Mentionably, Bhullar has already been facing investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has booked and arrested him under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 8 lakh from a Mandi Gobindgarh-based scrap dealer through his middleman Krishanu Sharda. The CBI has also initiated its own DA case against the suspended officer after recovering Rs 7.36 crore in cash, 2.5 kg of gold, 26 luxury watches, four firearms with 100 live cartridges and documents of over 50 properties from his residence in Chandigarh and Mehal farm at village Bondli, Samrala.
In a parallel development, the special CBI court in Chandigarh on Friday has extended Bhullar’s judicial remand by 14 days. Bhullar, a 2007-batch IPS officer, would remain lodged in Burail Jail, Chandigarh where he has been in judicial custody since his arrest on October 17.
The Vigilance Bureau’s registration of a separate DA case marks the first instance in recent years of concurrent probes by both central and state agencies against a senior Punjab Police officer. Sources confirmed that the VB would coordinate with the CBI to avoid overlap and share critical evidence related to the tracing of funds, benami property transactions and potential overseas investments.
Senior VB sources said that the investigation would cover landholdings in various areas of state as well as properties linked to Bhullar’s family members and close associates.
Bhullar’s case has now emerged as a defining test of accountability in Punjab’s law enforcement establishment as both CBI and Vigilance Bureau would pursue parallel investigations into the suspended officer’s illicit wealth, benami deals and foreign financial links.
Bhullar facing four criminal cases
With the registration of the latest case by the VB, suspended DIG is now facing his fourth criminal case. The CBI has already registered two separate cases against him, one under the PCA for demanding a bribe and another DA case for amassing illegal wealth. In addition, the Punjab Police at Samrala had earlier booked him under the Punjab Excise Act for unlawful possession of liquor recovered during a raid at his Mahal farm. The VB’s fresh case adds another layer to the ongoing investigations, making Bhullar one of the few senior police officers in the state’s history to face simultaneous probes by three different law enforcement agencies for corruption and misconduct.
Legal experts on jeopardy or jurisdictional overreach
Primarily, the VB case has created an overlapping jurisdiction between the CBI (a central agency functioning under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946) and the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (a state agency under the Punjab Police Act and CrPC).
Legally, the Vigilance Bureau’s DA case is maintainable only if it pertains to separate evidence or period of accumulation, and it primarily strengthens the state’s disciplinary and asset-recovery process rather than duplicating the CBI’s criminal case.
If properly structured, it can complement the central probe, ensuring that both criminal liability (CBI) and administrative accountability (VB) are established without violating the principles of double jeopardy or jurisdictional overreach.
Bar on multiple FIRs
Under Article 20(2) of the Constitution of India and Section 300 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), no person can be tried or punished twice for the same offence based on the same facts.
However, if two FIRs relate to different transactions or different sets of evidence, even if connected to the same accused, they are legally permissible.
