Majithia moves HC against his arrest

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Tuesday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against his arrest in a corruption case by the Vigilance Bureau and subsequent remand.

In his petition, Majithia termed his arrest under the Prevention of Corruption Act “illegal”.

He submitted that it was the result of “political witch-hunting and vendetta initiated by the present political dispensation with the sole object of maligning and harassing him as he has been a vocal critic and political opponent”.

Majithia was arrested from his Amritsar residence on June 25. A Mohali court sent him to seven-day Vigilance custody the next day.

The petition filed through advocates Sartej Singh Narula, Damanbir Singh Sobti and Arshdeep Singh Cheema is yet to come up for hearing.

Majithia said his arrest was carried out in “gross violation of settled legal procedures”.

The SAD leader said he was kept in “illegal custody for over two hours” prior to his official arrest at 11.20 am as evident from multiple video recordings and the remand order passed the next day.

“This custodial detention from 9 am to 11. 20 am was not only illegal and arbitrary but also in direct contravention of the constitutional and statutory requirement of producing the arrestee before a magistrate within 24 hours, as enshrined under Article 22(2) of the Constitution and Section 187 of the BNSS,” the petition read.

He added that the remand application filed by the investigating agency “lacked concrete or urgent investigative ground and merely relied on broad, speculative allegations such as the petitioner’s alleged influence, foreign connections and general statements about the need to confront him with documents or digital devices”.

He said the assertions clearly reflected a motive to extract a confession or admission from him in violation of the protections guaranteed under Article 20(3) of the Constitution.

Besides this, the order dated June 26 passed by a judicial magistrate (first-class) granting remand till July 2 was “manifestly perverse” and non-speaking, he submitted.

“It suffers from gross procedural irregularities, particularly non-compliance with the binding rules and orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court….The magistrate failed to record mandatory satisfaction as required under the rules, including examining case diaries, recording reasons for police custody, and ascertaining the existence of specific investigative,” he submitted.

The petition said there was not even a “whisper” in the order to suggest that the magistrate applied his judicial mind or considered the prior orders of the Supreme Court placed before him, especially when custodial interrogation on the same facts had already been declined.

Going into the details, the petition said the apex court, vide a detailed order dated March 4, had refused the petitioner’s custodial interrogation “despite the same allegation being pressed before it through multiple affidavits filed by the state of Punjab”.

He said the Supreme Court, instead, directed him to corporate with the SIT and join investigation, which was fully complied with.

“Despite the petitioner’s corporation and the apex court findings, the state has once again resorted to seeking police custody by concealing material facts and misrepresenting urgency before the magistrate,” the petition said.

Vigilance team raids Majitha office amid tight security

A Vigilance Bureau team raided the office of Bikram Singh Majithia in Amritsar’s Majitha Assembly constituency on Tuesday.

The SAD leader was brought to the property by the raiding Vigilance team.

Apart from amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income, he has been accused of laundering Rs 540 crore of drug money.

The raid was conducted amid tight security. the Vigilance team arrived at Majithia’s office at 3 pm in around 20 vehicles and carried out the investigation for around an hour and half.

The area was barricaded to restrict the entry of people and SAD workers. The police did not allow Majitha MLA and SAD leader’s wife Ganieve Kaur to go to the office. “Though, I had told them that only my lawyer and I would go to the office, they did not allow,” she said.

The MLA called the raid “illegal” while adding that the Vigilance had already conducted simultaneous raids on their residences in Amritsar’s Green Avenue, Majitha and Chandigarh.

Punjab