NDPS case: Another HC judge recuses from hearing Majithia’s bail plea

Another Punjab and Haryana HC judge recused himself from hearing the bail plea filed by senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia.

Another Punjab and Haryana High Court judge recused himself from hearing the bail plea filed by senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia.

Former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia, who is lodged in the Patiala Central Jail, had moved the HC seeking bail in a case registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in December 2021. (HT Photo/ Representational image)

Majithia’s plea was to be heard by a division bench comprising Justices Ramachandra Rao and Anoop Chitkara. As the matter was taken up for hearing on Friday, the bench ordered that the matter “be placed before some other bench in which one of us i.e. Justice Anoop Chitkara, is not a member, after obtaining appropriate orders from the Chief Justice.”

The bail plea had come up before the division bench after Justice Augustine George Masih had recused himself from hearing the it on July 4.

Majithia, who is lodged in the Patiala Central Jail, had moved the high court seeking bail in a case registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in December 2021.

After his bail plea was dismissed by a Mohali court in February, he had moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash the FIR registered against him. The apex court, however, had refused to entertain the plea and asked him to approach the high court.