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Synopsis

While dismissing the plea moved by the Punjab Government against bail granted to Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a drug-related case, the Supreme Court of India on Friday, April 25, directed him not to make any public statements concerning the investigation or court proceedings.

A bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar noted that Majithia was granted bail in August 2022, and it had been over two and a half years. Therefore, the court said it was not inclined to interfere with the impugned order.

Accordingly, the court dismissed the present Special Leave Petition (SLP)

"Neither side shall come forward to make any statement in the media regarding the investigation or the court proceedings. We make it clear that the respondent shall file an affidavit in this regard before the Registry within a week. The respondent shall not influence any of the prosecution witnesses or the trial proceedings. In case of default, the prosecution shall be at liberty to take recourse as permissible in law. Further, we make it clear that if any prosecution officers intend to make any statement to the media, they shall take prior permission from this Court, failing which they will be dealt with in accordance with law," the court further directed.

Earlier, the court had granted the anti-drug Special Task Force (STF) the liberty to move for cancellation of Majithia’s bail in case he attempted to influence witnesses or interfered with the trial proceedings.

During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal, appearing for the Punjab government, submitted that the investigation had been ongoing for a long time now, and that Majithia's name had surfaced multiple times. Agarwal contended that Majithia was trying to influence the prosecution witnesses and that even the ED had named him during their investigation.

"Here is a scenario--the gentleman comes and makes statements, pointing out each member of SIT. One can do this during pleadings. But when you do that in the public domain and go across, making allegations against SIT members. You are saying SIT members are acting as puppets of the government," Agarwal added.

Countering this, Senior Advocate S. Muralidhar, appearing for Majithia, said that the state was holding press conferences after every interrogation. He told the Court that he had clearly stated in his affidavit that the allegations made against him were not correct.

Case Title: The State of Punjab vs. Bikram Singh Majithia