New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed former minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia to appear before the SIT investigating the drugs case against him. A bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Arvind Kumar has ordered Majithia to appear before the SIT on March 17 at around 11 am.
Compulsory condition of bail to cooperate in investigation
This order came after the Punjab government said that Majithia is refusing to cooperate in the investigation. Majithia said that he was being harassed for political reasons and asked the court to fix the dates for questioning. Punjab Advocate General Gurminder Singh said that cooperating in the investigation is an essential condition for bail and Majithia will have to follow it.
Hearing on Punjab government’s petition
The Supreme Court was hearing the Punjab government’s plea against the order of bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 10, 2022. The High Court mentioned the appropriate base to believe that it was not guilty, but limited its comment to the decision of the bail plea.
Majithia remained in jail for more than 5 months
The Supreme Court had said that the trial court should proceed independently. In this case, Majithia came out after being in Patiala jail for more than five months. He is the brother of SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal and brother of former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. A case was registered on Majithia based on the 2018 report of the Anti Drug Special Task Force (STF) investigating the drug racket in the state.
