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Punjab drugs case: SC stays Akali leader Bikram Majithia’s arrest till Monday
Former Punjab minister’s anticipatory bail petition will be taken up by the apex court for hearing on Monday
The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the arrest of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia till Monday in a drugs case registered against him by Punjab Police on December 20.
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His lawyers mentioned the case before an SC bench, which in the presence of senior advocate and Punjab counsel P Chidambaram, directed that Majithia will remain protected from arrest till Monday when the petition is to be taken up by the court for hearing, his counsel, Damanvir Sobti said.
The development was confirmed by the counsel from the government side as well.
HC dismissed bail plea on January 24
On January 24, the Punjab and Haryana high court granted three days’ protection from arrest to Majithia but dismissed his anticipatory bail plea.
Majithia had moved the high court after he failed to get anticipatory bail from a Mohali court on December 24.
The high court while dismissing the bail plea had observed that that “complete and thorough investigation should not be a casualty in this political slugfest, especially keeping in view the grave and serious charges of drug trade”.
“It cannot be denied that the petitioner indeed was at the helm of affairs at the time of occurrence of alleged offence(s),” the high court said.
Majithia is the brother-in-law of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was the Punjab deputy chief minister till 2017. The drug racket case was unearthed in 2013 and allegations against Majithia had cropped up by 2014.
The special task force (STF) report, which became the basis of the FIR, was submitted in 2018 in the high court.
The drugs case was registered by Punjab Police in Mohali on December 20. He was booked under Sections 25 (punishment for allowing premises), 27 (A) (whoever is financing any activities pertaining to narcotic drugs) and 29 (party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Poll stunt by Congress leaders: Majithia
Majithia has been claiming that the FIR is an “election stunt”. He has also accused Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu of indulging in “unwarranted propaganda” and deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa of demonstrating “intense hatred” towards him.
On the other hand, Punjab Police, have maintained that the government machinery was used for the benefit of drug cartels during the Akali regime in the state. Majithia was a key minister in the Akali government and it was during the SAD’s term that the cartel was unearthed, the police claimed.
