Mohali court extends Majithia's judicial remand till Apr 5

A Mohali court on Tuesday extended the judicial remand of SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia till April 5 in a drug case.

Majithia, who is lodged in a Patiala jail, appeared before the court through video conferencing.

The court extended the remand by another two weeks and the next date of hearing is April 5, said one of Majithia's counsels Arshdeep Singh Kaler.

Majithia was sent to judicial custody on February 24 after he surrendered before the Mohali court in connection with the case.

On March 8, his judicial remand was again extended till March 22.

The court had rejected Majithia's bail plea on February 25.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Punjab Police not to arrest the former Punjab minister till February 23 so that he could undertake electioneering in the state. A Bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli had, however, directed Majithia to surrender before a trial court after the Punjab Assembly polls on February 20.

The pre-arrest bail plea of Majithia, 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.

Majithia is the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and brother of former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Majithia, 46, was booked under the NDPS Act on the basis of a 2018 report of a probe into a drug racket in the state.

The 49-page FIR was registered by the state Crime Branch at its Mohali police station last year.