A court in Mohali today sent Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) politician and former Punjab Minister Bikram Singh Majithia to judicial custody till 8 March after he surrendered in the court accompanied by his counsels’ senior advocate Cheema and HS Dhanoa and applied for regular bail in a drug case registered against him in December 2021.
Punjab Police had booked Majithia under the relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on the charge of his alleged involvement in a drug racket in the state. The FIR accuses Majithia of allowing drug smuggling through the use of his property or conveyance, financing the distribution or sale of drugs and hatching a criminal conspiracy for smuggling.
Majithia rubbished the allegations as a political witch-hunt by the Congress government and got relief from both the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Supreme Court.
On 24 January, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed Majithia’s anticipatory bail plea. Earlier, the Supreme Court had granted protection from arrest to Majithia till 23 February in view of the Punjab assembly election.
“I am abiding by the orders of the Supreme Court of India,” said Majithia today. He was apprehending arrest after a case under the provisions of the NDPS Act was registered at Mohali on 20 December 2021.
Earlier in January, while appearing before the SIT in the drugs case, Majithia said that he fears that he has been implicated in this case to keep him at bay from contesting the Vidhan Sabha elections.
Majithia appeared before the SIT for the third time at the crime branch headquarters in Mohali on 16 January. Presently, he is with the special investigation team (SIT) probing the case. Sources said the SIT team will question him.
Majithia also contested an election from Amritsar east.
Majithia first won the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections from the Majitha constituency in 2007. He won again from the same constituency in the 2012 and 2017 assembly elections. Subsequently, he was inducted into the Punjab cabinet. He is a former minister of revenue, rehabilitation and disaster management, information and public relations and non-conventional energy.
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