Chandigarh (Punjab): The Supreme Court on Monday granted protection from arrest to Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a drugs case till February 23, taking note of the fact that he has to campaign for the Punjab assembly elections going to take place on February 20.
A bench comprising Chief Justices N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli, however, directed Majithia to surrender before a trial court after the Punjab assembly polls on February 23. It also directed the trial court to hear and expeditiously decide Majithia’s regular bail plea after his surrender in the case.
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court had also directed the Punjab government to not take any coercive action against the Akali Dal leader after he approached the Supreme Court for anticipatory bail in the case.
Majithia, who is facing an FIR by Punjab Police in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) case, was earlier granted interim bail by the High Court on a condition of cooperating in the investigation. Majithia was apprehending arrest after a case under the provisions of the NDPS Act was registered at Mohali on December 20, last year.
The petition filed through Karanjawala law firm, stated that "the present case is blatantly political in nature and has been registered with the malafide objective to target the petitioner who is the mainstream leader of the opposition party, one month prior to the polls in the State." "The current dispensation i.e. the Congress-led government has left no stone unturned to misuse its powers and position for wreaking vengeance against its political opponents and the Petitioner is one such target. The gross abuse of the process of law and the vindicative nature of the FIR. No. 0002, dated December 20, 2021, is evident from the fact that the FIR has been registered in 2021 in respect of allegations/incidents of 2014. Thus there is a gross and unexplained delay," the plea in the apex court stated.
It said the FIR had been deliberately registered at a time just prior to the elections with the oblique motive to remove Majithia, who is the prime face of the opposition party, to gain political mileage. The filing of nominations has started in the State of Punjab from January 25, 2022, and would continue till February 1, 2022, said the plea, adding that the purity of the electoral process is at stake.
In the High Court, Majithia alleged that the sole intention to register the FIR against him is to take him in custody and torture him. Majithia had contended that the FIR was registered against him keeping an eye on the upcoming elections and his fundamental rights are at stake. The Punjab government, before the High Court, had opposed his bail plea contending that Majithia had not extended full cooperation during the investigation.
Read: Navjot Sidhu files nomination from Amritsar East, accuses SAD of looting Punjab
