Bikram Majithia Skips SIT Summons in 2021 Drug Case, Cites SC Directions

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Monday skipped the Punjab Police SIT summons in a drug case, with his counsel alleging that the fresh notice violated directions issued by the Supreme Court.

The Special Investigation Team had summoned Majithia to appear before it on October 5 in connection with the 2021 drug case. His counsel, Arshdeep Singh Kler, appeared at the Patiala Police Lines and raised objections to the summons.

Kler said the Supreme Court, on March 4, 2025, had questioned the Punjab government over the delay in completing the investigation into the case and had directed it to finish the probe by March 18, 2025.

“The fresh summons issued to Majithia is a complete violation of the Supreme Court order,” Kler claimed.

He also maintained that Majithia had been summoned as a witness and not as an accused, and alleged that the SIT had failed to comply with the apex court’s directions.

The SIT has also summoned dismissed Punjab Police DSP Jagdish Bhola, who was arrested in November 2013 in connection with an alleged multi-crore drug racket. Bhola had in 2014 made allegations linking Majithia to the racket, charges that the SAD leader had strongly denied.

The Enforcement Directorate had subsequently investigated the matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and questioned Majithia in 2014, when he was a minister in the then Akali government.

The SAD has accused the ruling AAP government of summoning Majithia to divert public attention from its alleged failures.

Majithia was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act on December 20, 2021, based on a 2018 report of the Punjab Police's anti-drug Special Task Force. The report referred to statements of accused persons in the earlier drug racket case.

Majithia spent more than five months in Patiala jail and was released in August 2022 after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted him bail in the case.