New Delhi, Oct. 7 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list Punjab government's challenge to a high court order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register a criminal case into alleged corruption linked to chief minister Bhagwant Mann's office, but declined an urgent hearing the same day, saying the matter could be accommodated on Wednesday or Thursday. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, responding to senior advocate Vikas Singh's request for an immediate hearing, said that the court would try to accommodate the petition within the next two days, despite Singh's plea that the high court's direction raised serious questions about the federal structure and warranted urgent intervention. "Not today. We will try to accommodate you tomorrow or day after. There are many matters. We will try to list this tomorrow or day after," the CJI told Singh, who appeared for the Punjab government. Singh argued that the high court had ordered a CBI inquiry against state government officers without sufficient material to establish the commission of a cognisable offence. "It is settled law that no case can be registered unless there is evidence of a cognisable offence. The high court has on Monday ordered a CBI inquiry against our officers. I want the listing today itself," he contended. Singh added that the timing of the proceedings, ahead of elections, raised concerns about interference with the federal structure. "Just before the elections, all these things are coming up. It is a clear case of federal structure which is being sought to be tinkered with," submitted Singh, pressing for the matter to be taken up on Tuesday itself. The Punjab government moved the Supreme Court in the early hours of Tuesday, filing a special leave petition at 1.42am against the Punjab and Haryana high court's Monday order directing the CBI to register an FIR and investigate allegations of corruption involving senior state government officials and the chief minister's office....