HC dismisses SAD leader Majithia’s bail plea in disproportionate assets case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia in a disproportionate assets case, observing that the possibility of him influencing the investigation could not be ruled out. While pronouncing the order, Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya, however, directed the Punjab Vigilance Bureau to complete its probe within three months. Thereafter, the petitioner can seek his release on bail, the judge said, adding the court is conscious of the fact that the petitioner cannot be kept in custody for an indefinite period, as that would infringe upon his right to liberty.

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested Majithia on June 25 in the disproportionate assets case that involved the alleged laundering of Rs 540 crore of “drug money”. He was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The FIR against Majithia stems from an ongoing probe being conducted by a Punjab Police special investigation team into a 2021 drug case. Pronouncing the order on Thursday, the court observed that the petitioner is one of the prominent political figures in the Punjab and had been a cabinet minister for over seven years.

“The investigating agency has cited about 20 material witnesses, who have been termed vulnerable. In case the petitioner is to be released from custody at this stage, the possibility of his influencing the further course of investigation, trying to cover up the questionable transactions, manipulating the record relating to the same, and influencing the concerned persons/witnesses not to cooperate with the investigating agency, cannot be ruled out,” read the order. The court said the petitioner is accused of serious economic offences.

“Investigation of the case has revealed huge unaccounted money in his bank accounts, as also the setting up of a large number of companies through which the financial transactions have been carried out surreptitiously for his benefit.

“It has also come to the notice of the investigating agency that money has been routed through some foreign entities based in Singapore and Cyprus. The petitioner is directly or indirectly in control of most of these entities with immediate family members, and appears to be the key beneficiary,” it said. The High Court order stated that the transactions, as well as assets accumulated by routing the money in the manner aforementioned, are being investigated, and all this has adverse ramifications for the financial health of the State. 

Majithia’s counsel, RS Cheema contended that the companies or entities mentioned in the FIR have been thoroughly investigated by the state in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case, as well as in the case the vigilance bureau mentioned the alleged disproportionate assets and cash deposits in the petitioner’s as well as in companies’ accounts as “drug money”.

Opposing Majithia’s bail plea, Punjab Advocate General Maninderjit Singh Bedi and additional Advocate General Chanchal Singla submitted that the petitioner is accused of very serious economic offences. Majithia is lodged in the New Nabha jail in Patiala. A Mohali court rejected his bail plea in August.

The Vigilance Bureau filed an over 40,000-page chargesheet in the disproportionate assets case in the Mohali court on August 22. In 2021, Majithia was booked under the NDPS Act.

The action was taken on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug Special Task Force. He spent more than five months in Patiala jail.