Chandigarh: The much talked about drugs case in Punjab came up for hearing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court Tuesday. A lawyer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had filed a petition seeking that the hearing of the case be expedited. The court accepted the plea and the first case, which was scheduled to be heard in November, will now be heard October 13. A petition seeking opening of the Special Task Force (STF) report is also pending in the court.
Additional Solicitor General of India Satyapal Jain said that under the legal process, the report will be read by the court itself first and it will not be made public. No matter whose name is in it, the court will first summon those persons and then there will be hearings under the legal process.
Regarding Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's tweet, Jain said that he is sitting in a responsible position, and if he is tweeting about hearings, then it is his discretion. But often if someone has to say something about court cases, then an application has to be filed in the court.
The Punjab government had submitted a sealed report of the STF inquiry in the High Court. Earlier, Sidhu tweeted that the faces of the drug smugglers would be exposed after two-and-a-half years. The case was initially scheduled to be heard September 1 in the High Court. However, then Justice Ajay Tiwari recused himself from the hearing.
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The Chief Justice then referred the case to a new bench comprising Justice AG Masih and Justice Ashok Kumar Verma. Advocate Navkiran Singh had filed a petition for an early hearing of the case last year. Now, the new bench will now hold regular hearings of the case.
A few years ago, a drug racket worth Rs 6,000 crore was exposed in Punjab, which was investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Former Akali Dal Minister Bikram Singh Majithia was also questioned by the ED in this connection. This is why Navjot Sidhu has been constantly targeting the Akali Dal. It was also cited as a major reason for Captain Amarinder Singh's dismissal from the Chief Minister'schair. Drugs were also a big issue in the last elections in Punjab and the then ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance suffered defeat.
