The Punjab government on Tuesday decided to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to probe the alleged involvement of Raninder Singh, son of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, in a hawala deal.

The Commission would probe allegations that Raninder was a beneficiary in the transfer of money by a Singapore IT firm to a company in Channel Islands. The chief minister claimed Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal and the Bharatiya Janata Party had 'fabricated' the case to 'put a lid on the anti-corruption drive launched by his government'.

Congress dissidents had demanded a CBI probe into allegations against Raninder Singh while Akali Dal and BJP had demanded the chief minister's resignation along with the probe.

The dissidents also managed to score a point in the battle against the chief minister who replaced Vigilance Bureau chief A P Pandey. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Punjab cabinet, the first ever since dissidence spilled out into the open, which was boycotted by rebels owing allegiance to Agriculture Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

"Pandey will swap places with Izar Alam (Additional DGP, Administration)," Amarinder Singh told a press conference in Chandigarh holding that Pandey had not followed procedures in initiating action on a complaint against Transport Minister Tej Prakash Singh, son of late Beant Singh and a Bhattal loyalist.

Bhattal had on Monday said that over 30 of her MLAs would protest against Pandey marking a letter to the Chandigarh police to look into a complaint alleging that Tej Prakash had been paid bribes to get permits for bus routes. She had recently threatened to resign if no action was taken against Pandey.

Punjab Finance Minister Lal Singh, one of the ministers present during Amarinder Singh's press briefing, said the other had ministers welcomed the chief minister's decision on Pandey. "When the name of a minister or an MLA is involved in a complaint, it is his (Pandey's) duty to refer it to the chief secretary," Lal Singh said adding, "You cannot take action without the chief secretary's knowledge."