CHANDIGARH: Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who is the brother-in-law of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, was today sent to 14 days judicial custody in a disproportionate assets case by a court in Mohali.
Amid tight security arrangements, Majithia was produced before the court. The police also detained several prominent SAD leaders and workers in different parts of the state in the morning to prevent them from coming towards Mohali.
Speaking to the media after the court hearing, public prosecutors Ferry Sofat and Preet Inderpal Singh said Majithia has been sent to judicial custody for two weeks and will be lodged in the New Jail at Nabha.
"During investigations, many things have come to the fore during the remand period," Sofat said.
Preet Inderpal said under the provisions of the law, if an investigating agency feels that remand is again required based on new facts emerging during the investigation, an application can be moved before the court to seek the remand.
On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh Kler, counsel for Majithia, claimed the investigating agency does not have anything to back their case.
"The government only wants to suppress the voice of the Akali Dal. The police did not have proof in the drug case till today, and now in the disproportionate assets case, they did not find any asset. They only created media hype around the case," Kler alleged.
Earlier, on July 2, a court here had extended the vigilance remand of Majithia by four more days. The next date of hearing is now set for July 19.
Sources said Majithia was taken to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday to gather evidence related to Saraya Industries.
Majithia, on July 1, had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the DA case, in which the next date of hearing has been fixed for July 8. He had termed it "political witch-hunting and vendetta" for being a vocal critic of the present government.
In his petition, he sought appropriate relief against his "illegal" arrest and the subsequent remand granted in the FIR registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
"The said FIR is a result of political witch-hunting and vendetta, initiated by the present political dispensation with the sole object of maligning and harassing the petitioner, who has been a vocal critic and political opponent," the petition read.
The petitioner submitted that the FIR registered against him is "patently illegal," while his arrest was carried out in "gross violation of settled legal procedures."
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau had arrested Majithia on June 25 in a DA case allegedly involving the laundering of Rs 540 crore of "drug money." In the fresh FIR registered against Majithia, the agency claimed that preliminary investigations revealed more than Rs 540 crore of "drug money" had been laundered through several means and that it was allegedly facilitated by Majithia.
This FIR against Majithia stems from an ongoing investigation being conducted by a Punjab Police Special Investigation Team into a drug case. In 2021, Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The action was taken on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug Special Task Force.
Majithia had spent more than five months in Patiala Central Jail and walked out of prison in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail.