New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was detained for nearly three hours at Delhi airport on his return from Paris and issued a challan of Rs 50,000, with airport officials purportedly telling him that they were acting under "tremendous pressure from above".
The claim, made by the party's Punjab media in-charge Baltej Pannu in a video statement shared on X, has triggered a fresh political row between the AAP and the BJP, though neither the Delhi airport authorities nor the Union government had responded to the allegation at the time of writing.
According to Pannu, Mann was deliberately made to wait for three hours when he landed at Delhi airport on Sunday night after leading a state delegation to Paris. Officials kept offering shifting excuses, Pannu claimed, telling the chief minister first that his luggage was "still arriving" and then that it was "still being checked". These were outright lies and an insult to Punjab, the AAP leader said.
Pannu claimed the episode did not end when the three hours were over. "After three hours, when Mann was allowed to leave and was about to depart after placing his luggage in a vehicle, officials came running after him and said that they were under 'tremendous pressure from above'," he said. It was at that point, he claimed, that the officials issued a challan of Rs 50,000.
"The officials themselves admitted that they were under pressure, which proves that the entire episode was carried out under orders from above," he added.
Significantly, Pannu did not specify what the fine was for. The Tribune, The Hindu and the Press Trust of India's syndicated reporting on the allegation all noted that the AAP leader offered no explanation for the detention or the challan.
Raising questions about the treatment meted out to an elected chief minister, Pannu asked: "Has any chief minister of an Indian state ever been detained at an airport for three hours in this manner? Has any chief minister ever been disrespected by being issued a challan of Rs 50,000? This is happening solely because Bhagwant Mann is a Punjabi, is the chief minister of Punjab, and is working day and night for the betterment of Punjab."
The Paris visit that forms the backdrop to the episode has itself been a point of contention between the Punjab government and the Centre. Mann travelled to the French capital to lead a state delegation connected with the participation of the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd (Markfed) at SIAL Paris 2026, the international food trade exhibition being held in Paris from October 17 to 21.
During the visit, the state inaugurated its pavilion at the show and launched two international product lines under Markfed's flagship agricultural brand 'Sohna'.
The trip nearly did not happen at all. The Ministry of External Affairs had declined to grant political clearance for the chief minister's proposed visit, prompting the Punjab government to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court against what it called the Centre's arbitrary decision.
The court set aside the refusal, observing that the government "had not explained what that political angle/viewpoint is", and directed that the chief minister be accorded due protocol during the visit. The opposition had earlier mocked the France visit plan as a "birthday trip", adding to the political heat around the tour.
Pannu said the Centre continued to display what he called narrow-mindedness even after the court order. "When the CM travelled to Paris in accordance with the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the central government once again demonstrated its narrow-mindedness," he said. He claimed that despite the High Court's clear direction on protocol, "even the Consul General in Paris did not come to meet the chief minister".
From there, the AAP leader widened his attack into a broader charge sheet against the Union government. "PM Narendra Modi and his government leave no opportunity to undermine Punjab and Punjabi identity," Pannu said, claiming that the Punjab CM had been deliberately detained and an "absurd challan" issued as a direct attack on Punjab's identity and dignity.
He listed what he described as the Centre's anti-Punjab policies: keeping farmers at Delhi's borders for one and a half years, withholding funds rightfully due to the state, and its handling of the farmers' protest. "Whether it is forcibly keeping farmers at Delhi's borders for 1.5 years or withholding funds rightfully due to Punjab, the Central Government has continually tried to choke Punjab at every level," he said.
Pannu also claimed that the Modi government had denied permission for Mann's foreign visits on at least four occasions. "So far, permission for CM Bhagwant Mann's foreign visits has been denied at least four times because the Modi government fears that if the chief minister travels abroad, he will bring investment and funds from there and put Punjab on the path of progress," he said.
What emerged in response to the allegation, however, were counter-claims that challenge the AAP's version of events. NDTV reported, citing sources within the Delhi airport's customs department, that a customs duty of Rs 50,000 was imposed on the chief minister because he had failed to declare some items in his luggage, and that Mann's accompanying staff had their luggage checked as well.
Shiromani Akali Dal general secretary Bikram Singh Majithia offered a sharper counter-claim in a post on X. "According to sources, they were questioned for hours over allegedly carrying more luggage or money than permitted. They reportedly failed to provide an explanation," he wrote, referring to Mann and his wife Gurpreet Kaur. "They were eventually allowed to leave, considering Mann's position as Chief Minister. However, orders were issued to verify the bags of the entire CMO staff, including officials like Topi Sinha," Majithia claimed.
These competing accounts mean the episode rests, for now, entirely on unverified claims. The AAP's allegation of a three-hour politically motivated detention has been neither confirmed by a formal customs statement nor answered by the BJP; the customs-sources account of undeclared dutiable goods is not an official statement either, and the CISF, which handles security at the airport, has also not issued any comment.
India TV noted explicitly that neither the BJP nor officials at the Delhi airport had responded to the AAP's allegations.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj weighed in on X, accusing the Centre of arrogance. "Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann went to Paris to launch Punjab's products at Paris. This was after he challenged Centre's not granting him the NOC. This arrogance of Centre must end. Even Ravan's arrogance ended on Dussehra," he wrote, invoking the Dussehra festival.
The controversy comes at a politically charged moment. Punjab heads to assembly polls early next year, and the AAP-BJP contest in the state has been intensifying across multiple fronts. In recent days, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the drug trade was flourishing in Punjab and that the home ministry would seek a report from the state government over the killing of an anti-drug activist, remarks that drew a sharp reply from Mann.
The AAP has also claimed that the Union government is withholding rural development funds and mishandling farm grievances, while Amit Shah has publicly said the ministry is "grappling with the drug threat" in the state.
The airport episode also revives a familiar flashpoint in Centre-state protocol. Mann is not the first political figure to complain of discourteous treatment at a Union government-controlled airport, and each such episode has fed the AAP's long-standing narrative that the BJP-led Centre uses the instruments of the state to harass opposition leaders.
For its part, the BJP has consistently denied such charges, characterising routine security and customs checks as apolitical and uniform.
For now, the key questions remain unanswered. No official has confirmed that Mann was detained for three hours, no authority has explained the legal basis of the Rs 50,000 challan, and the identities of the officials who allegedly spoke of "pressure from above" are unknown.
Until the customs or airport authorities issue a formal account, the Delhi airport episode will remain what it is at this stage: a sharply contested political claim, with each side offering its own version of what happened on the far side of the arrivals hall.
(Reporting based on The Tribune and NDTV.)