The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday deferred till July 29 the hearing on Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia’s petition challenging his arrest and subsequent judicial remand in a disproportionate assets (DA) case registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB).
The bench granted Majithia’s legal team three weeks to file an amended petition after his counsel sought more time during Tuesday’s proceedings. The petition challenges the legality of his June 25 arrest and remand under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Majithia, a former Punjab minister, was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau on charges of laundering over ₹540 crore of alleged “drug money” — a claim he has strongly denied, terming the FIR and arrest as acts of “political vendetta and witch-hunting” by the ruling government.
Following his arrest, Majithia was initially sent to seven days of vigilance remand on June 26 by a Mohali court. The remand was later extended by four more days on July 2. On July 6, he was sent to judicial custody.
In his plea before the High Court, Majithia has sought relief against what he described as an “illegal” arrest and remand. The petition contends that the FIR is politically motivated and violates legal procedures, raising “serious issues concerning the abuse of the criminal process, misuse of remand powers, and violation of the petitioner’s right to liberty and fair investigation.”
The case against Majithia stems from a larger investigation by a Punjab Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the 2021 drug case, originally registered based on a 2018 report by the state’s anti-drug Special Task Force. Majithia had previously spent over five months in Patiala jail in that case before being granted bail by the High Court in August 2022.
The state government, represented by counsel Ferry Sofat, confirmed that Majithia’s legal team has been allowed time to amend their petition and that the matter will now be taken up on July 29.
