CHANDIGARH — The Punjab government has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent search operation at the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) complex, terming the entire exercise illegal, high-handed, and unconstitutional. In its fresh petition, the state administration has urged the court to direct the central agency to return all seized official files, hard drives, and sensitive government records, while also seeking an interim stay to restrain the ED from initiating any adverse coercive action on the basis of the confiscated material.
The state government sought an urgent hearing, following which the High Court scheduled the matter for arguments.
The petition follows the extensive 50-hour search conducted by the ED in the final week of September (September 22–24) across the GMADA headquarters situated in Phase-8, Mohali. The investigation relates to alleged financial irregularities involving change-of-land-use (CLU) clearances, multi-crore dues waivers, and undue concessions extended to private developers. During the marathon raid, federal agents sealed three floors of the complex, impounded technical storage systems, and conducted protracted questioning of the chief engineer and several other senior bureaucratic officers.
The state administration argued that the prolonged searches disrupted core municipal and urban development governance, asserting that federal agencies are exceeding their statutory mandate to interfere in the lawful administration of the state. The raid had earlier triggered sharp political condemnation from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which accused the Centre of weaponizing central enforcement agencies to target state institutions and build a hostile narrative against the state government.
