A Mohali court on Wednesday extended the remand of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia by four days in a disproportionate assets (DA) case allegedly involving laundering of ₹540 crore of drug money.
Majithia was produced in the Mohali district court complex amid tight security after his seven-day remand in Vigilance Bureau (VB) custody ended on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media after a three-hour hearing, public prosecutor Ferry Sofat said the court extended Majithia’s remand by four more days after the VB filed an application.
The Punjab VB had arrested Majithia on June 25. The FIR against him stems from an ongoing investigation being conducted by a Punjab Police special investigation team into the 2021 drug case. In 2021, the former minister 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 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.
On Tuesday, the SAD leader the high court challenged the disproportionate assets case against him, terming it “political witch-hunting” for criticising the AAP government.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, the SAD leader the high court challenged the disproportionate assets case against him, terming it “political witch-hunting” for criticising the AAP government.
{{/usCountry}}In a petition filed through his counsel, Arshdeep Singh Cheema and Sartej Singh Narula, Majithia sought appropriate relief against the “illegal” arrest and subsequent remand granted in the FIR registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“The FIR is a result of political witch-hunting and vendetta, initiated by the present political dispensation with the sole object of maligning and harassing the petitioner who has been a vocal critic and political opponent,” read the petition.