The Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought the Punjab government’s response to a petition filed by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who has sought anticipatory bail in a criminal case registered against him in Amritsar.
The bench of Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya, which heard the plea on Thursday, directed the state to file its response by September 23. The FIR, lodged on July 31, accuses Majithia of obstructing public servants from discharging their duties during a Vigilance Bureau (VB) raid at his Amritsar residence on June 25. The raid was conducted in connection with an ongoing disproportionate assets (DA) probe, linked to allegations of laundering over ₹540 crore of drug money.
Majithia’s bail plea had earlier been dismissed by an Amritsar court on August 27. On September 10, a Mohali court also turned down his request for a separate barrack at Nabha jail, where he is currently lodged. His counsel has argued before the court that the case is politically motivated and that multiple proceedings have been initiated to ensure he remains behind bars.
The DA case forms part of a wider investigation by a Punjab Police special investigation team into the high-profile 2021 drug case. On August 22, the Vigilance Bureau submitted a 40,000-page chargesheet against the SAD leader in the Mohali court.
Majithia, a former Punjab minister, has been embroiled in legal battles since 2021 when he was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act following a 2018 report by the state’s anti-drug special task force. He spent over five months in Patiala jail before being granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in August 2022.
The high court will take up the matter again on September 23.
