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Punjab & Haryana High Court issued a Notice of Motion to the Punjab Cricket Association, Amarjit Mehta (President), Sunil Gupta (Treasurer), Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (Secretary), Hon’ble Mr. Justice (Retired) Jaspal Singh (Ombudsman-cum-Ethics Officer), Vikrant Singh (Officiating Chief Executive Officer), Sidhant Sharma (Joint Secretary), MGSG firm (involved in due diligence of land purchased by PCA), Darshan Singh & Bhushan Garg (involved in the Bathinda Land Deal), Future Homes through its Partners Ramneek Singh & Shallu Dhingra, and AGM Heights through Gurpreet Singh (both involved in Land deal of Amritsar), requiring them to file a reply before 18.09.2026 in case CWP-24817-2026, which is listed on 10.08.2026.
Learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent no.15 (Enforcement Directorate) accepted notice and sought time to file a reply. Court also ordered that Dasti be processed.
It is interesting to note that all PCA respondents are closely associated with the AAM Party / Government of Punjab. Amarjit Mehta’s son is the Mayor of Bathinda, Sunil Gupta holds Cabinet Minister Rank in the Punjab Govt & his wife is a Member of the RTI Commission, Punjab, the Ombudsman’s son is a DAG in Punjab, Vikrant Singh is a close relative of IAS Officers of the Punjab Cadre; and Sidhant Sharma’s close relative works in the National Convenor’s office.
The Petitioner, Rakesh Handa is a Class 1 Cricketer and a former Ranji Player who represented the State of Punjab between 1978 and 1982. He is a former employee of the Customs and Central Excise Department, Ministry of Finance, Govt of India.
The Petitioner highlighted a financial fraud involving several crores indicating the beneficiaries of the fraud as the President and the Treasurer of the Punjab Cricket Association. Large chunks of land were purchased in Districts Bathinda & Amritsar at abnormal rates, and the sale consideration amounts were not approved according to applicable rules and regulations.
The Petitioner filed a formal complaint regarding the Bathinda Land with the Ombudsman, PCA along with supporting evidence. To avoid the penal consequences, the President, Punjab Cricket Association claimed false suspension of the Petitioner as Member, Punjab Cricket Association and in response to the complaint, he pleaded that the Petitioner being under suspension has no locus-standi to maintain the complaint. Without any documentation regarding the suspension on record, the defence taken by the President of PCA was unfortunately believed by the Ombudsman and the Petitioner’s complaint was dismissed on the technical issue that since his membership was suspended, he could not maintain any complaint. In fact, there is no suspension order for the Petitioner as a Member of the Punjab Cricket Association on record.
It is also important to note that 19.5 acres of land were purchased at a price increase that was 19.76 times the land’s value/rate. The land purchased in the name of PCA was sold by the sellers (who bought it from farmers at an average rate of approximately Rs. 15.00 lacs) to the Punjab Cricket Association for @ Rs. 2.99 Crore. The time difference between the 1st and 2nd sale transactions ranges from 06 months to 03 months.
Petitioner has prayed for following reliefs
Quashing of the termination letter/order dated 21.05.2026 and all other penal proceedings including the alleged suspension of the petitioner.
Quashing of the order dated 10.03.2026 passed by the ombudsman on the complaint titled as “Rakesh Handa versus Amarjit Mehta and others” being illegal and arbitrary.
Direction for adjudication of the issues involved in the present writ petition by a retired High Court Judge
Direction to conduct investigation by Central Bureau of Investigation & Enforcement Directorate of the fraudulent sale transactions in purchase of land by PCA in District Bathinda & District AmritsarDirection to President PCA to immediately resume and release pension of the petitioner along with arrears and interest @ 12 percent per annum.
In an earlier complaint by the Petitioner, Deepak Sharma, the then Chief Executive Officer had to resign from the post of CEO, PCA and quit PCA.
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