CHANDIGARH: Twirling his moustache in a familiar flourish and declaring 'Tiger abhi zinda hai', Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia walked out of Nabha Jail after seven months on Tuesday, a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a disproportionate assets case.
Majithia's release was delayed by several hours due to legal and procedural formalities, with his legal team remaining inside the jail for much of the day. His wife Ganieve Kaur Majithia also arrived at the jail premises as hundreds of SAD workers and supporters gathered outside amid tight security arrangements and gave him a rousing welcome.
After coming out of jail, Majithia urged Punjabis to launch a public movement to free Punjab from the clutches of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders of Delhi and ensure they could take their own decisions for the welfare of the state.
"I will continue to raise the voice of Punjabis, be it farmers, youth, employees or traders, as well as raise issues like law and order even if more cases are registered against me. The AAP government and chief minister Bhagwant Mann cannot break me,” asserted Majithia who is the brother-in-law of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
He said, "The state government never wanted me to come out. In fact, the government wanted only my body to come out. But I am thankful to God for making truth prevail. In these seven months, I meditated a lot, which I wasn’t able to do when I was outside. Even today, the government had put conditions for my bail. They were saying that I should not enter Punjab and I should not talk to anyone. So where should I go? Walking on the path of truth is not that easy, but truth always prevails. Guru Sahib’s teachings gave me enough strength when I was inside.”
Majithia also urged the Supreme Court to intervene and direct the UPSC to remove DGP Gaurav Yadav immediately, saying the police officer was acting like a stooge and willfully violating the Constitution to please his bosses like Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann. He also demanded that the DGP give an affidavit that “there is no danger to my life”, stating conditions were being deliberately created to get him eliminated.
He added that during his jail term, he was not allowed to meet his family members and even his lawyers. “All this was done to break me mentally and even my human rights were violated," he said.
Majithia said the Patiala police had even compromised Radha Soami Dera Beas head Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon’s security by stopping the latter’s car at a distance and pushing select media persons who had been brought there to ask him motivated questions. He said he was beholden to Babaji who showered him with love and affection.
He was later taken atop an open jeep as supporters escorted him out of the area. Majithia paid obeisance at Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib following his release.
"This is the victory of truth. The government had forgotten that there is God above," his wife Ganieve told reporters.
Majithia thanked political leaders from different parties who had stood with him and condemned the false case as well as vendetta unleashed against him including Sukhbir Singh Badal, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Capt Amarinder Singh, Sunil Jakhar, Partap Singh Bajwa, Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Tarun Chugh. He also thanked his lawyers besides reserving special praise for his wife and Majitha legislator Ganieve who was continuously 'harassed' by the police.
Majithia was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau on June 25 last year in the disproportionate assets case allegedly linked to the laundering of Rs 540 crore of drug money. A voluminous 40,000-page chargesheet was filed in the case in a Mohali court on August 22 last year.
The case against Majithia stems from a 2021 investigation by a Punjab Police special team into drug-related activities. He had earlier secured bail in a separate case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, which subsequently led to the registration of the disproportionate assets case.