The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday disposed of a plea from former minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader, Bikram Singh Majithia, challenging a notice from Punjab police SIT, probing the December 2021 drugs case.
The petition was disposed of as government counsel informed the high court that the June 7 notice issued under Section 91 of the CrPC has been withdrawn, one of the counsels, Pavit Singh Mattewal, told reporters after the hearing. A detailed order is awaited.
Majithia was booked under various Sections of the NDPS Act in December 2021 by the Punjab Police. He was granted bail by high court in August 2022 observing that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Akali leader was not guilty of the offences charged against him.
On June 7, a notice was issued to Majithia by the SIT asking him to respond to the “necessary questionnaire and produce the relevant record under Section 91 of the CrPC by June 18”.
In his plea filed on June 18, Majithia had alleged he was being harassed due to frequent summons/notices and had further submitted that SIT can’t ask for personal documents such as bank details, business-related information etc. from him under Section 91 of the CrPC. Thus, the notice issued is illegal. He had also claimed that there was no credible and legally admissible material against him and that the case was “blatantly political in nature”. The court on June 18, had deferred the hearing as the state’s counsel gave an undertaking that the petitioner would not be required to appear or to produce any documents in pursuance to the notice in question till the next date of hearing. However, when the matter was taken up on Monday by the high court, the state informed of the withdrawal of notice. As a result, the plea was disposed of as infructuous by the high court.
{{/usCountry}}In his plea filed on June 18, Majithia had alleged he was being harassed due to frequent summons/notices and had further submitted that SIT can’t ask for personal documents such as bank details, business-related information etc. from him under Section 91 of the CrPC. Thus, the notice issued is illegal. He had also claimed that there was no credible and legally admissible material against him and that the case was “blatantly political in nature”. The court on June 18, had deferred the hearing as the state’s counsel gave an undertaking that the petitioner would not be required to appear or to produce any documents in pursuance to the notice in question till the next date of hearing. However, when the matter was taken up on Monday by the high court, the state informed of the withdrawal of notice. As a result, the plea was disposed of as infructuous by the high court.
{{/usCountry}}SIT probe ‘politically motivated’: SAD
Chandigarh
The SAD on Monday asked the chief minister Bhagwant Mann to own the moral responsibility for misusing his office to launch a ‘politically motivated witch hunt’ against senior party leader Bikram Singh Majithia and resign from his post.
Party’s chief spokesperson Arshdeep Singh Kler in a press conference said that the defamation campaign launched by the CM against Majithia has been unmasked as SIT withdrew its summons. “The state government failed to give any proof based on which it was summoning Majithia for questioning,” Kler said.