Bikram Majithia’s remand extended by 4 days; 402 hectares Shimla land deals under lens

A Mohali court on Wednesday extended the Vigilance remand of SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia by four days as the bureau sought time to investigate benami transactions involving 402 hectares in Mashobra near Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla.

Majithia was produced in the Mohali court after his seven-day Vigilance remand ended today.

Following the hearing, public prosecutor PIP Singh told mediapersons, “Benami transactions of around 402 hectares were found in Mashobra during the remand, whereas Majithia had declared ownership of only 0.56 hectares in his 2012 election affidavit.”

He said Majithia’s father had re-purchased Sainik Farms worth several crores in Delhi when the SAD-BJP combine was in power in the state and the leader was a minister in the government.

‘Hard nut to crack’

“Majithia’s wife Ganieve Kaur had carved a colony (Green Enclave) in Jalandhar in which she has 25 per cent ownership. New incriminating documents have been found in these cases and Majithia may be taken to Gorakhpur (UP) for investigation of Saraya Industries records,” the public prosecutor said.

“These were the grounds given in the court on the basis of which the four-day remand was obtained. Besides, Majithia is a tough nut to crack. He has not been cooperating,” he added.

The Akali leader will be produced in the court again on Sunday. The former Punjab minister was arrested from his Amritsar house on June 25.

Apart from amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, he has been accused of laundering Rs 540 crore of drug money.

The SAD leader was brought to the court in a cavalcade amid tight security arrangements around 10.40 am and left the court after more than three and a half hours around 2.20 pm.

Majithia’s counsel Arshdeep Singh Kaler and HS Dhanoa said, “The prosecution has nothing to show in the court. The government is stating the same thing that it had stated in an affidavit in the Supreme Court. The police have not done any investigation. The Vigilance has not gathered any evidence. Their entire focus is on muzzling the democratic rights of SAD leadership.”

Majithia’s MLA wife Ganieve Kaur was also present in the court during the in-camera proceedings .