High Court grants bail to Akali leader Majithia in drugs case
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Aug, 2022 10:16 AM
Chandigarh, Aug 10 (IANS) The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday granted bail to senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who was in jail over for over five months for his alleged involvement in a drugs case registered in December 2021.
A division Bench of Justices M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Sureshwar Thakur had reserved the order on the bail plea on July 29.
Majithia, a former minister lodged in the Central Jail in Patiala, had moved the High Court for the regular bail in the case registered under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
In his petition, Majithia said the then Congress government in the state did not leave any stone unturned to misuse its power and position for wreaking vengeance against its political opponents and the petitioner was once such target.
In an order, the High Court observed that there is no material placed on record showing possession, transportation, storing by or recovery of any contraband from the petitioner. "All recoveries in the concluded trials had been effected from specific individuals and the petitioner was not shown therein to have any role in that regard," it observed.
"We are satisfied that reasonable grounds exist to believe that the petitioner is not guilty of the offences alleged against him in the FIR and he is not likely to commit such offences while on bail," said the judges.
"It will take time for the trial to start and culminate. So no fruitful purpose is going to be served even if the petitioner is kept in judicial custody for a further indefinite period. We are of the opinion that continued detention of the petitioner, which started on February 24, is not warranted and he is entitled to be released on bail," the Bench added.
On April 3, two persons from Pathankot, driver, Surinder Singh and conductor, Dheeraj Dutta were shot and injured by militants in Litter village of the same district.
Three persons were arrested for allegedly running a fake call centre that used to cheat people on the pretext of increasing the limit of their credit cards, an official said on Wednesday. The accused cyber fraudsters were identified as Prateek (25), Kuldeep (26) and Sourav (27)
In a massive show of strength, the party's two Chief Ministers -- Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi and Bhagwant Mann of Punjab -- held a roadshow with the former pleading with the public saying, "AAP will uproot corruption from Himachal Pradesh too, if it comes to power".
The official said that the trio had violated provisions of section 8 of the NDPS act, and had committed offence punishable under section 21, section 23 and section 29 of NDPS act.
Emphasising the need of immediate direct air link between Chandigarh and London, Mann apprised Rowett that the Chandigarh International Airport caters to the growing demand of the people of neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chandigarh.
The family members of the farmers, mowed down by a car belonging to Mishra, in Lakhimpur Kheri had moved the top court challenging bail granted to him. He is the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra. The victims' families have claimed that the state has not filed an appeal opposing bail granted to Mishra.
