A court in Mohali Tuesday extended the judicial remand of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia till March 22 in a drugs case. The 46-year-old Majithia was produced in the court by the jail authorities at the end of his two-week judicial custody.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Punjab Police to not arrest the former Punjab minister till February 23 in the case so that he can undertake electioneering in the state. A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli had, however, directed Majithia to surrender before a trial court after the Punjab assembly polls on February 20.
After the Akali leader surrendered on February 24, a court had put Majithia in judicial custody for two weeks as the investigating agency did not seek his police remand. The orders stated that Majithia be produced before the court through video conferencing. It further said, “Accused has filed an application for seeing police diaries.”
The orders further read that in order to ensure fair investigation and in view of the provisions of Section 172 of CrPC, the police diaries No. 51 to 57 from February 25 to March 8 have been seen and initialled.
The pre-arrest bail plea of Majithia, who was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on December 20 last year, was dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 24. He was booked under the NDPS Act on the basis of a 2018 report of a probe into a drug racket in the state.The 49-page FIR was registered by the state Crime Branch at its Mohali police station last year
Majithia contested the February 20 polls from the Amritsar East constituency, from where Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu is seeking re-election. The results will be announced on March 10.