Drugs case: Supreme Court issues notice to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Punjab Govt’s plea against bail given to him

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia on the Punjab Government’s petition against a Punjab and Haryana High Court order granting bail to him in a drug case.

A Bench led by Justice Aniruddha Bose after senior counsel Shyam Divan, representing the Punjab Government, explained the case and highlighted the problem of drug menace in the state.

Majithia, the brother-in-law of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and brother of former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, was booked on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug special task force (STF) into a drug racket in the State.

The STF report was based on confessional statements given to the Enforcement Directorate by some accused, including Jagjit Singh Chahal, Jagdish Singh Bhola and Maninder Singh Aulakh.

The Punjab Government has challenged the August 10, 2022, order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, following which Majithia was released from the Patiala jail after spending more than five months in the Patiala jail in the drug case.

The High Court had said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that he was not guilty, even as it clarified that its observation was only for deciding the bail application and the trial court should proceed independently of the observations made by it. The High Court had said that Majithia shall travel abroad only with leave of this court and shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the Punjab Police not to arrest Majithia till February 23, 2022, in the drugs case to enable him to take part in the election campaign. However, it had directed him to surrender before the trial court after that.

Earlier, Justice Surya Kant had on January 30 recused himself from hearing the Punjab Government’s appeal against the High Court order granting bail to Majithia. Following this, CJI DY Chandrachud reconstituted the Bench.