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DA case against Majithia: HC stays order summoning Fastway MD for questioning
The Punjab vigilance bureau had summoned the Fastway MD for July 17, asking him to give details whether he had shareholding/ partnership in the moveable or immovable assets of Majithia and his family members
The Punjab and Haryana high court has stayed the Punjab vigilance bureau’s summoning order issued to Fastway managing director Gurdeep Singh, seeking his presence in connection with the criminal case registered against SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia last month.
The vigilance bureau had summoned Singh for July 17, asking him to give details whether he had shareholding/ partnership in the moveable or immovable assets of Majithia and his family members.
The application for a stay was filed by the company, claiming that the action had been initiated due to political vendetta, particularly in light of a media channel run by the company, having aired news following Majithia’s arrest on June 25.
Since the media house did not yield to governmental pressure to suppress the news coverage to their interests, the impugned notice had been issued to him in retaliation, the plea claimed, further questioning the legality and maintainability of the notice.
Fastway is a cable service provider and multi-system operator in Punjab, which also has news channels and a newspaper.
The stay application was moved as part of a 2022 petition filed by the company, in which it had sought the transfer of multiple FIRs against its employees to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In those ongoing proceedings, the high court had earlier restrained the Punjab Police from arresting Singh in nearly nine FIRs registered across the state.
The bench of justice Sandeep Moudgil, while posting the matter for hearing on July 22, on Thursday sought government response and further ordered that operation of the notice sent to him will remain stayed till the next date of hearing. The detailed order was made available on Friday.
The Punjab VB on June 25 had arrested Majithia in the disproportionate assets case, allegedly involving laundering of ₹540 crore.
The former minister remains in judicial custody. This FIR against Majithia stems from an ongoing investigation being conducted by a Punjab Police special investigation team into the 2021 drug case.
In 2021, Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The action was taken on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug Special Task Force. Majithia had spent more than five months in Patiala jail and walked out of prison in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana high court granted him bail.
