Chandigarh, July 11 -- A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in on Friday framed charges against suspended Punjab Police deputy inspector general (DIG) Harcharan Singh Bhullar and his aide Krishanu Sharda in a corruption case registered in October last year. The charges have been framed under Section 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under Section 7 (public servant obtaining or accepting an undue advantage) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Bhullar, and under Section 12 (abetment of the offence under Section 7) of the Act against Sharda. If convicted, the duo may be jailed for up to seven years, along with a fine. Special CBI judge Bhawna Jain said a prima facie case is made out against the accused after considering the CBI's "final report and the material placed on record". The court also rejected separate discharge applications filed by Bhullar and Sharda and proceeded to frame charges against them. Both pleaded not guilty during the hearing on Friday, upon which the court ordered commencement of trial from July 23. Bhullar (59), then posted as DIG, Ropar range, and middleman Krishanu Sharda, 29, a national-level hockey player, were arrested on October 16 following a complaint filed by Akash Batta, a scrap dealer from Mandi Gobindgarh. It was alleged that Bhullar demanded illegal gratification through Sharda for securing favourable treatment in a first information report (FIR) registered at the Sirhind police station and ensuring that no coercive action was taken against the complainant's business. During a subsequent search at Bhullar's Sector 40 home in Chandigarh, the CBI had seized around Rs.7.5 crore in cash, gold and silver jewellery worth Rs.2.32 crore, 22 luxury watches, multiple luxury vehicles, 40 litres of imported liquor, and documents for 129 acres of agricultural land, numerous urban properties in Patiala, Ludhiana, Mohali and New Chandigarh, and 50 commercial shops at Machhiwara, Ludhiana. The CBI filed a 300-page chargesheet on December 10, 2025, containing extensive digital, oral and material evidence documenting a major bribery operation. Bhullar has been lodged in Model Jail, Chandigarh, since his arrest. The CBI had also registered a separate case of disproportionate assets against him. He has secured bail in that case on January 5 from the trial court. However, in this case, he is yet to get a bail. In the first round, he went up to the Supreme Court but failed to get relief. A fresh bail application filed in high court is pending adjudication. On November 26, 2025, Bhullar had also challenged the registration of the FIR by the CBI and invoked a jurisdictional issue, stating that the federal probe agency had no jurisdiction to arrest an IPS officer posted in Punjab. Subsequently, in December, he approached the apex court, also challenging CBI proceedings as he failed to get a relief from the high court. But he failed to get a relief from the top court as well. Later, he withdrew the plea from the high court....