Supreme Court directs Bikram Singh Majithia to appear before SIT in drugs case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Punjab Police on March 17 for questioning in a drugs case.

A bench led by Justice J K Maheshwari ordered Majithia to present himself at the SIT headquarters in Patiala at 11 am. If required, he may have to appear again on March 18. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 24.

Majithia, a close relative of former SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, was booked in 2018 for alleged involvement in a drug smuggling racket based on a report by an anti-drug special task force.

The Punjab government has challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s August 10, 2022, order granting bail to Majithia after he spent over five months in Patiala jail.

Advocate General Gurminder Singh argued for bail cancellation, citing Majithia’s alleged non-cooperation in the probe. He claimed that Majithia refused to answer written questions from investigators.

Majithia’s counsel denied the allegations, stating that his client was being politically harassed but was willing to appear before the probe agency for two days. The Supreme Court had earlier granted him protection from arrest until February 2023, allowing him to contest the Amritsar East assembly election on February 20.

Previously, the Punjab Police was directed not to arrest him until February 23, 2022, to facilitate his election campaign, after which he was instructed to surrender before the trial court.