Bikram Majithia sent to judicial custody for two weeks

A Mohali court sent SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia to 14-day judicial custody in a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act after his four-day remand ended on Sunday.

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Majithia has been sent to the new Nabha jail. He will be produced in the court again on July 19. The Vigilance Bureau arrested Majithia from his Amritsar house on June 25 and brought him to Mohali the next day. The court first sent him to seven-day VB remand on June 26 and further extended that by four days on July 2.

Majithia was taken to Gorakhpur (UP) and Delhi over the past four days to gather evidence related to Saraya Industries.

Briefing mediapersons after the court hearing, public prosecutors Ferry Sofat and Preet Inderpal Singh said, “During investigation, many things have come out during remand period.” Preet Inderpal Singh said under the provisions of the law, if an investigation agency feels that remand was required again based on new facts during the probe, an application could be moved before the court.

Defence counsel Arshdeep Singh Kler claimed the investigating agency has nothing to back the case. “The government only wants to suppress the voice of the Shiromani Akali Dal. The police did not have proof in drug case. And now in the disproportionate assets case, they could produce nothing. Only media hype is being created around the case,” Kler alleged.

Majithia, 49, moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the assets case on July 1, calling it “political witch-hunting and vendetta” as he is vocal against the policies of AAP government. The next hearing in the case will be held on July 8.

Despite it being Sunday, heavy police presence ensured tight security on the courts complex since morning. Police detained several SAD leaders and workers in various parts of the state to prevent them from heading towards Mohali.