New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the Punjab government plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order granting bail to Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in a case registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
A bench comprising justices Bela M Trivedi and K V Vishwanathan said the court is not inclined to interfere with the high court order.
Senior advocate PS Patwalia, representing Khaira, claimed that the state government had malice against his client. The Punjab government moved the apex court against the January 4 order of the high court.
Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the Punjab government, said there is evidence against Khaira, including material, which the state had gathered from the Enforcement Directorate and the high court had not considered. Luthra said Khaira has threatened a person, who is going to make a statement against him. However, the apex court said it is not inclined to entertain the Punjab government’s plea. Luthra urged the apex court to stay the high court but the bench did not agree with his contention.
The Punjab government had contended that the bail order completely ignored Section 37 of NDPS Act which required the court to be satisfied that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the accused was not guilty of such offence and that he was not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
Before he could be released following the high court’s order granting him bail in the NDPS case, Khaira was arrested by the Punjab Police in a fresh case registered at Subhanpur police station on a complaint filed by the wife of a key witness in the 2015 drugs case, accusing him of criminal intimidation. On January 15, Khaira was granted bail by a Kapurthala court in the second case.
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