SC grants bail to former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia in disproportionate assets case

The Supreme Court of India on Monday granted bail to senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a high-profile disproportionate assets case , nearly seven months after his arrest. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing Majithia’s plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court ’s December 2025 decision that had rejected his bail application.

Majithia has been lodged in Nabha Jail in Patiala since his arrest on June 25, 2025 , by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) , which alleges that he accumulated assets far exceeding his lawful income during his political tenure, including through proceeds linked to a drug-related network .

The case arises from a massive investigation that has seen the filing of a 40,000-page chargesheet and a supplementary chargesheet of 11,000 pages detailing alleged financial irregularities, corporate holdings, foreign investments, and complex transactions allegedly used to conceal illicit wealth reportedly amounting in excess of Rs 540 to Rs 700 crore . The chargesheet names Majithia and his associates in connection with companies and financial dealings spanning multiple states and foreign entities.

Majithia, a three-time MLA from Majitha and a former Punjab cabinet minister , comes from a politically influential family and is the brother-in-law of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal . During his tenure between 2007 and 2017, he held important portfolios in the state government, which has intensified scrutiny of his public life.

The arrest followed an ongoing inquiry by a Punjab Police special investigation team into a 2021 drug trafficking case, in which initial drug-related charges had been probed since 2018. Authorities maintain that proceeds from the drug racket were laundered into real estate and corporate investments, including through alleged use of shell companies and benami transactions .

The High Court had previously denied Majithia’s bail, describing the allegations as part of a “deep, complex economic offence” and citing the potential for tampering with evidence and influence over witnesses given the breadth of the alleged financial network. It had directed the VB to complete its remaining investigation within three months, after which bail could be reconsidered.

In the Supreme Court hearing, Majithia’s lawyers argued that he had already been granted bail in a separate Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case in 2022, and that the state’s challenge to that bail had been dismissed by the top court. They also raised security concerns , citing intelligence reports of threats to his life in custody.

The political context of the case has been intense. The SAD has described the prosecution as politically motivated , tying it to its opposition to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab. Party leaders have maintained that the FIR and the disproportionate assets case are part of a broader push against political rivals. The state government and law enforcement have rejected this, stating the case is rooted in extensive investigative evidence and its commitment to tackling corruption and the drug menace in the state.

The bail order comes as the legal process moves toward trial, with prosecution sanction granted earlier and the complex charges continuing to unfold in court. Majithia’s release on bail will allow him to await further proceedings outside custody while the investigation and trial advance.