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The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Majithia to appear before the SIT for interrogation in a drugs case on March 17 at 11 am.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar said if needed, he will also appear on March 18, as well, at the same time. The apex court was hearing the appeal of the Punjab government against a Punjab and Haryana High Court order granting bail to him in a drug case. The bench has now posted the matter for hearing on March 24. Advocate General of Punjab, Gurminder Singh, sought cancellation of his bail on grounds that Majithia is not cooperating with the investigation. Singh said that Majithia is refusing to reply to queries. Majithia's counsel replied that he is being harassed for political reasons and asked the court to fix dates for interrogation. Punjab and Haryana High Court in August 2022 granted bail to Majithia. Majithia surrendered after the expiry of the protection period. The apex court on January 31, 2022, had granted protection to Majithia from arrest till February 2023, because of the February 20 assembly polls to contest as a SAD candidate from the Amritsar East assembly constituency. On March 20, 2022, in his first orders to Punjab Police after assuming charge, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann reconstituted the four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the drugs case against Majithia. The previous SIT was a three-member team. The SIT was formed to probe allegations against Majithia based on an FIR lodged under various sections of the NDPS Act on December 20, 2021. (ANI)
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