Punjab: SAD leader Majithia sent to judicial custody

Chandigarh: A court in Punjab's Mohali district on Sunday sent Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia to judicial custody for two weeks in a disproportionate assets case.

Amid tight security arrangements, Majithia was produced before the court. Speaking to reporters after the court hearing, public prosecutors Ferry Sofat and Preet Inderpal Singh said Majithia has been sent to judicial custody for two-weeks and will be lodged in New Nabha Jail.

Earlier on July 2, a court here had extended the vigilance remand of Majithia by four more days.

The next date of hearing is July 19.

"During investigations many things have come to the fore during (Vigilance) remand period," Sofat said.

Preet Inderpal said under the provisions of the law, if an investigation agency feels that (Vigilance) remand is again required based on new facts coming to the fore during investigation, an application can be moved before the court to seek the remand.

Majithia's counsel Arshdeep Singh Kler claimed the investigating agency does not have anything to back their case.

"The government only wants to suppress the voice of the Akali Dal. The police did not have proof in drug case till today and now in the disproportionate assets case they did find any asset. They only created media hype around the case," Kler alleged. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau had arrested Majithia on June 25 in the DA case allegedly involving laundering of Rs 540 crore of "drug money".

Majithia had recently also moved the Punjab and Haryana High court against the DA case, in which the next date of hearing has been fixed for July 8.

Majithia on July 1 moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the DA case, calling it "political witch-hunting and vendetta" for being a vocal critic of the current dispensation.

In his petition, he sought appropriate relief against "illegal" arrest and subsequent remand granted in the FIR registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. "The said 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.

The petitioner submitted that the FIR registered against him is "patently illegal" while his arrest was carried out in "gross violation of settled legal procedures".

In the fresh FIR registered against Majithia, the VB claimed that preliminary investigations revealed that more than Rs 540 crore of "drug money" has been laundered through several ways and it was allegedly facilitated by Majithia.

This FIR against Majithia stems from an ongoing investigation being conducted by a Punjab Police special investigation team into the 2021 drug case.

In 2021, Majithia 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.