Punjab governor Gulab Chand Kataria has granted sanction to prosecute Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia in a disproportionate assets (DA) case filed by the state Vigilance Bureau (VB).
This clears the way for the VB to initiate criminal proceedings against Majithia under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Officials familiar with the matter said the approval was issued under Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, following a recommendation by the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab cabinet based on the VB’s findings and legal advice from the advocate general’s office.
On September 8, the Punjab cabinet granted prosecution sanction against Majithia, who is currently lodged in the New Nabha Jail in Patiala. According to officials privy to the matter, the governor’s prosecution sanction was required since Majithia was a former minister.
Majithia, a three-time MLA from Majitha and former revenue minister, is accused of possessing assets worth over ₹700 crore, disproportionate to his declared income by 1,200%, allegedly acquired through the laundering of ₹540 crore linked to a 2013 drug trafficking network.
The SAD leader was arrested on June 25 after the VB seized digital devices, property documents and financial records after simultaneous raids on his Amritsar residence and 25 other locations. The next day, a Mohali court sent him to seven days’ police custody after which he was remanded in judicial custody on July 6.
{{/usCountry}}The SAD leader was arrested on June 25 after the VB seized digital devices, property documents and financial records after simultaneous raids on his Amritsar residence and 25 other locations. The next day, a Mohali court sent him to seven days’ police custody after which he was remanded in judicial custody on July 6.
{{/usCountry}}On August 22, the VB filed a voluminous chargesheet running into more than 40,000 pages at a Mohali court in the case.
This case stems from an ongoing probe into a 2021 drug case, for which Majithia was booked under the NDPS Act, based on a 2018 anti-drug task force report. He spent over five months in Patiala jail before securing bail in August 2022.
Majithia has consistently and all through rejected the allegations against him as politically motivated. His regular bail was denied in August, though he secured interim relief from the Punjab and Haryana high court in September.
The trial is set to proceed in the Mohali sessions court.