Former Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and senior IPS officer Vivek Sheel Soni's name was cleared of the allegations of negligence and misconduct linked to televised interviews of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi conducted allegedly in the police custody at CIA headquarters in Kharar. 

The findings surfaced Wednesday after Bikram Singh Majithia, senior  Shiromani Akali Dal, questioned the decision in a social media post and accused the Punjab government of protecting officials involved in the case.

Retired judge Rajiv Narain Raina, appointed by the high court to examine the matter, submitted his report on Dec. 31, 2025. He concluded there was no evidence that Soni had prior knowledge of, participated in, or deliberately ignored the alleged security breach at the CIA Kharar police facility on March 14, 2023.

The report acknowledged serious lapses in custodial security but said holding the then-SSP directly responsible solely because he headed the district police was unjustified. It also cited procedural flaws in the disciplinary proceedings initiated against him.

The controversy centres on two interviews of Bishnoi broadcast by a television news channel on March 14 and March 17, 2023. A court-monitored special investigation team later found the first interview was recorded while Bishnoi was in police custody at CIA Kharar, while the second was conducted from a jail in Rajasthan.