Chandigarh/New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Thursday said it was waiting for the Punjab government’s approval to prosecute state assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon in a corruption case.
The investigating agency had accused Kahlon of misusing his political position to illegally appoint over 900 panchayat secretaries during his tenure as Punjab’s rural development and panchayat minister in the Akali Dal government 1996 to 2001.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the CBI to probe this case in 2003, on a complaint from a senior official of rural development and panchayat department.

After conducting an independent inquiry, the CBI accused Kahlon and over a dozen officials, including three to four senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials, in its over 50-page report.

The CBI had also written to the ruling Akali Dal government in March this year, seeking its permission to initiate prosecution of Kahlon but is still awaiting approval.

“We are waiting for the state government’s approval for further action in the case,” a CBI official told IANS in Delhi.

“CBI Delhi is probing the corruption case against Nirmal Singh Kahlon. Therefore, we are not authorised to comment anything on this issue,” Mahesh Aggarwal, deputy inspector general of CBI (Punjab and Chandigarh), told IANS in Chandigarh.