Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Punjab minister Bikram Singh Majithia was on Thursday sent to judicial custody till 8 March by a court in Mohali (SAS Nagar) in a drug case.

Majithia surrendered in the court today and applied for regular bail in a drug case registered against him in December last year. The SAD leader has been booked under the relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, on the allegations of his alleged involvement in a drug racket in the state.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 24 had dismissed Mr Majithia’s anticipatory bail plea.

The Supreme Court had also granted protection from arrest to Majithia till 23 February in view of the Punjab Assembly elections. Majithia was apprehending arrest after a case under the provisions of the NDPS Act was registered at Mohali on 20 December last year.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab senior leader and Leader of Opposition, Harpal Singh Cheema welcomed the court decision. “Court’s decision is very much welcomed. The Hon’ble court did what the Punjab and Central government should have done years ago,” he said. Cheema said the AAP government in Punjab would work to root out the drug mafia from Punjab.

Cheema said that like the previous SAD-BJP government, the present Congress government has been openly protecting the drug lords and their notorious political leaders. He alleged that the Congress government in Punjab and Majithia had been using new tactics to dismiss the drug case with the help of each other.

Cheema said Majithia who should have been in jail many years ago in the drug case, had to be thrown in jail by the court due to the poor performance of previous governments and Punjab Police. He said drug menace had been rampant in the 10 years rule of Badals and then in Congress rule and millions of youth had died due to drugs.

“Therefore, sending Bikram Majithia to jail will not solve the issue completely. Instead, the AAP government in Punjab would take appropriate legal action against the political patrons of the drug mafia so that it can be rooted out for good,”.