Punjab HC rejects anticipatory bail plea of Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia in drugs case

Majithia is the brother-in-law of Sukhbir Badal and the brother of former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia who was undergoing trial in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) case.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia was booked in a drugs case in Mohali on December 20 last year. (HT file photo)

As a next step, Majithia will move the Supreme Court for interim protection from arrest in the case. The high court heard the arguments from both sides earlier in the day and pronounced the order at 4pm.

The SAD leader was granted interim protection from arrest on two accounts -- January 10 and 18. The high court had also asked him to cooperate in the probe and imposed some other conditions.

When the court heard the matter last on January 18, the Punjab Police had informed the high court that Majithia was not cooperating in the probe, even though he had joined the investigation on multiple occasions.

While former Union minister and Supreme Court lawyer P Chidambaram presented the state government, Majithia had roped in apex court lawyer Mukul Rohtagi and senior advocate RS Cheema.

The 46-year-old Akali leader was booked on December 20 last year under the NDPS Act on the basis of a report filed by anti-drug special task force (STF) chief Harpreet Singh Sidhu in the high court in 2018. On December 24, Majithia had moved the high court seeking anticipatory bail.

Majithia is the brother-in-law of SAD president Sukhbir Badal and the brother of former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.