SC agrees to hear SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia's plea seeking bail

New Delhi, Dec 19 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia's plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's order which denied him bail in a disproportionate assets case.

A bench of justices Vikram Nath and N V Anjaria issued notice on Majithia's plea and posted it for hearing on January 19.

It, however, refused the prayer for interim bail.

In its December 4 order, the high court dismissed Majithia's bail plea, observing that the possibility of him influencing the investigation could not be ruled out.

While directing the Punjab Vigilance Bureau to complete its probe within three months, the high court had said Majithia can thereafter seek his release on bail.

During the hearing before the apex court, senior advocate S Muralidhar, appearing for Majithia, said the petitioner was earlier granted bail in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

He said the apex court had dismissed the Punjab government's plea challenging the bail granted to him.

"In that NDPS case, they had filed a supplementary affidavit before this court saying they have unearthed evidence about money being received in the NDPS case. That same financial transaction is now used to foist a new case under the PC (Prevention of Corruption) Act," Muralidhar said.

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested Majithia on June 25 in the disproportionate assets case that allegedly involved accumulation of Rs 540 crore of wealth.

The FIR against Majithia stems from an ongoing probe being conducted by a Punjab Police special investigation team into a 2021 drug case.

In its order, the high court had noted that Majithia is one of the prominent political figures in Punjab and had been a cabinet minister for over seven years.

It had said the investigating agency has cited about 20 material witnesses, who were termed vulnerable.

"In case the petitioner is to be released from custody at this stage, 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," the high court had said.

Before the high court, the counsel appearing for Majithia had argued that lodging of the FIR in the case was illegal and it was registered in violation of the settled procedure to keep him behind the bars.

Majithia's counsel had contended that companies or entities mentioned in the FIR were thoroughly probed by the state in the NDPS Act case as well.

He had said in that 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".

The counsel for the state had contended before the high court that there was substantial evidence against Majithia establishing his own enrichment and also that of his family run companies, apart from acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Majithia is lodged in the New Nabha jail in Patiala. A Mohali court had 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.

The SAD leader has termed the disproportionate assets case against him "political witch-hunting and vendetta", a fallout of his being a vocal critic of the current dispensation.

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. PTI ABA ZMN