Chandigarh, Dec. 5 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday rejected demand from suspended deputy inspector general (DIG), Ropar range, Harcharan Singh Bhullar, arrested by the CBI in a corruption case in October, seeking stay on the investigation in two criminal cases registered by the federal agency. The order was passed by high court bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry amid vehement demand from the counsels of Bhullar, who were seeking fixing of hearing of the case for next week while the bench expressed its inability due to heavy roster and posted the matter for hearing in January. Bhullar, who is in judicial custody, was arrested by the CBI on October 16 for allegedly accepting Rs.5-lakh bribe from a scrap dealer, Akash Batta. Subsequent searches at his residences yielded Rs.7.5 crore cash, 2.5kg gold, 26 luxury watches and documents related to over 50 properties. On December 3, the CBI filed a chargesheet before a Chandigarh court in the corruption case registered against Bhullar. In the plea, Bhullar has demanded that his arrest be declared illegal as the CBI had no jurisdiction under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPE Act) to launch an investigation against an officer, who is working in Punjab. The plea also seeks quashing of the complaint, which resulted in registration of criminal case and his arrest. During the hearing, senior advocate RS Rai submitted that if the case is to be posted for hearing in January, then an interim order staying further proceedings be passed. "Here is an issue of the federal structure of the country, where whether you can get into a state.. is the only question. The individual here doesn't matter. Even the state of Punjab said, yes, they do not have jurisdiction," senior advocate RS Rai argued, underlining that the CBI had no jurisdiction to enter Chandigarh to investigate an officer, who is from Punjab. "..it will entitle them to walk into the civil secretariat of the government (Punjab and Haryana) and do whatever they feel like. Because they will say Chandigarh is under their jurisdiction. That means the Punjab civil secretariat and Haryana civil secretariat," Rai further argued underlining that if this is allowed, the CBI doesn't need permission and can investigate every officer, who is posted in Chandigarh, capital of both the states, claiming that they are then under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, he said. However, the court was unmoved and observed that in that scenario it would pass an interim order. "..federal structure won't crumble, if the matter is not heard next week," the bench remarked further saying that Bhullar can file a petition seeking bail. During the first round of hearing in the morning, Rai submitted that the DSPE Act limited the agency's jurisdiction in Chandigarh strictly to Central government employees and not the officers from states of Punjab and Haryana. Allowing the CBI to investigate Punjab and Haryana officers merely because their capital is Chandigarh would convert the CBI into a "super-power vigilance bureau for two states", something "not envisaged" by the statute, Rai submitted. To a query whether competent authority in the case would be Centre or Punjab, Rai said in the case of an IAS/IPS officer in Punjab, the CBI has to send the file to Punjab for obtaining sanction. "You are required to obtain sanction from the authority under whose service the public servant is," he said underlining that is how a case of jurisdictional overreach is made out against in this case. On November 26, on the first day of the hearing, the Punjab government had also opposed the CBI action and said that the agency should have sent the complaint against Bhullar to the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), which looks into corruption matters. The CBI had no "jurisdiction" to launch investigation into the case and that jurisdiction had been created by the CBI to launch the probe, the Punjab government had submitted. The CBI has been maintaining that a written complaint from one Akash Batta was received and proceedings were initiated only after verification conclusively substantiated clear demand and agreement for illegal gratification. "The demand was raised in Chandigarh and bribe money was also received in Chandigarh. So, automatically, it gets into the jurisdiction of Chandigarh," the CBI has maintained....