Akali leader Majithia sent to judicial custody till March 8
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Feb, 2022 12:00 PM
Chandigarh, Feb 24 (IANS) Facing charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia was on Thursday sent to judicial custody till March 8 by a trial court in Mohali near here after he surrendered following directions of the Supreme Court.
The brother-in-law of SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, Majithia, who was sent to the Ropar jail during his judicial custody, applied for regular bail and his bail plea will come up for hearing on Friday.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli had directed Majithia to surrender before the trial court after the Punjab Assembly polls on February 20. His interim bail had ended on Wednesday night.
Majithia was in the fray for the February 20 assembly polls from Amritsar (East).
In a 49-page FIR filed by the state police Crime Branch at the Mohali police station, the SAD leader has been booked under sections 25, 27A and 29 of the NDPS Act.
On Monday, after a detailed hearing in the matter, a bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said the court will set up a committee headed by a retired top court judge to probe the PM's security breach and asked both the Centre and Punjab government to not move ahead with their respective inquiries into the matter.
Several Supreme Court advocates on Monday claimed to have received an international call with a recorded message asking the apex court not to help the Central government by taking up a case connected with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach in Punjab last week.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress are projected to poll 40 per cent and 36 per cent votes in Punjab, respectively, as per the ABP-CVOTER Battle for the States survey. The 117-member Punjab Assembly will go to the polls on February 14, and the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.
The highest quantity has been procured from Punjab (1,86,85,53 MT) followed by Chhattisgarh (67,65,986 MT) and Telangana (65,54,739 MT) while the highest number of farmers benefitted in are Chhattisgarh (16,90,459), Telangana (9,67,134) and Punjab (9,24,299).
Hockey is one of the most popular sports in Punjab and many players from the state have been integral parts of the national team. The 117-member Punjab Assembly will go to the polls on February 14, while the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Registrar General of Punjab and Haryana High Court to secure and preserve all records in connection with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab, and also asked the state and Central committees to refrain from conducting inquiries till Monday, when it will take up the matter again.
