The Supreme Court on Monday directed Punjab Police to not arrest Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia till February 23 in a drugs case so that he can campaign for assembly elections in the state.
"Sorry to say this, suddenly these cases are coming up before elections and everybody has reasons to suspect some motives," the Chief Justice of India said, and added that candidates should be allowed to at least file nomination and contest elections in a democracy.
Mr Majithia is contesting the Punjab assembly elections from two seats, including the Amritsar East seat against Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. He has also filed his nomination papers from the Majitha constituency, from where he is the sitting MLA. He will fight the elections from both seats.
A bench comprising Chief Justices N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli, however, directed Mr Majithia to surrender before a trial court after the Punjab assembly polls scheduled on February 20.
It also directed the trial court to hear and expeditiously decide Mr Majithia's regular bail plea after his surrender in the case.
The CJI directed senior advocate P Chidambaram, who appeared for the Punjab government, to advise the Punjab government "so that it does not look like you are taking motivated actions".
The observation of the top court came when it told Punjab government about another anticipatory bail plea filed by an MLA who complained of FIR being registered ahead of elections.
"There was another mentioning today regarding anticipatory bail of Simarjit Singh Bains where a case has been registered against him. That case will be heard tomorrow. Sorry to say suddenly these criminal cases are coming out before elections...," the bench said.
Mr Chidambaram said that he can assure the court that there will be no politically vindictive action in Punjab.
During the hearing, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Mr Majithia argued that this is a classic case of political humiliation and vendetta.
Mr Chidambaram told the bench that this is a case of an international drug racket.
"Punjab now is sinking under a drug trail and we have to send a message that drug trafficking will not be taken lightly else the future of Punjab youth is damned," Mr Chidambaram added.
He added that custodial interrogation of Mr Majithia is required in the case.
The pre-arrest bail plea of the Akali leader, who was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on December 20 last year, was dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 24. An appeal has been filed in the Supreme Court.
In the High Court, Mr Majithia had alleged that the sole intention to register the FIR against him is to take him in custody and torture him. He had contended that the FIR was registered against him keeping an eye on the upcoming elections and his fundamental rights are at stake.
Punjab, before the High Court, had opposed his bail plea contending that Mr Majithia has not extended full cooperation during the investigation.
Voting for Punjab's 117-member assembly will be held on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
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