Patiala, Oct 5 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Monday skipped the summons by the Punjab Police SIT probing a drug case, as his counsel alleged that the directions of the Supreme Court have been violated by issuing the order.
The SIT had summoned Majithia to appear before it on October 5.
His counsel, Arshdeep Singh Kler, who reached the Patiala Police Lines here, accused the SIT of violating the directions of the Supreme Court.
He said on March 4, 2025, the apex court had asked the Punjab government why it had not completed the investigation in the 2021 drug case in about five years.
The court had also asked the state government to complete its probe by March 18, 2025, he said.
“The fresh summons issued to Majithia is a complete violation of the Supreme Court order,” Kler claimed.
He further claimed that Majithia had been summoned as a witness and not as an accused, reiterating that the SIT had “failed” to comply with the court’s directions.
The Punjab Police SIT had also summoned dismissed Punjab Police DSP Jagdish Bhola in the same case.
Bhola, a former wrestler, was arrested in November 2013 in connection with the alleged multi-crore drug racket.
In 2014, Bhola made claims connecting Majithia to the alleged drug racket, a charge which was vehemently denied by the senior Akali leader.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also investigated the case later under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The ED sleuths had questioned Majithia in 2014 in connection with the case when he was the minister in the then Akali government.
The Shiromani Akali Dal has accused the AAP government of trying to divert people’s attention from its “failures” by summoning Majithia.
Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on December 20, 2021, when the then chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government was in power.
The action was taken on the basis of a 2018 report of the anti-drug Special Task Force (STF) of the Punjab Police.
The STF report was based on confessional statements given by some accused, including Jagjit Singh Chahal, Jagdish Singh Bhola and Maninder Singh Aulakh, of the 2013 multi-crore drug racket case, to the ED.
Majithia spent more than five months in Patiala jail and walked out of prison in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail in the case. PTI COR CHS
PRK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.