With the Punjab and Haryana High Court granting regular bail to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia in a drugs-related case,  the SAD, on Wednesday, said, “Evil designs of the previous Congress government as well as efforts by the present Aam Aadmi Party dispensation to implicate Majithia in a ‘false case’ have been exposed.”

In a statement, SAD said the party’s faith in the judiciary had been reaffirmed by the High Court’s decision to grant bail to Majithia “in a politically motivated case of vendetta”. Majithia was not guilty of offences alleged against him in the FIR registered against him in December, 2021, the party said.

“The order lays bare the evil designs of the previous Congress government as well as efforts by the present AAP dispensation to implicate Majithia in a false case”, the SAD said.

“The very fact that the high court had stated that the evidence against Majithia was frail and not credible vindicated the stand taken by the party that a conspiracy was hatched to implicate the former minister in a false drug case one month prior to the last Assembly elections. It expressed confidence that the trial in the case would unmask this conspiracy and ensure justice was done to Majithia,” the party added.

Majithia had moved the High Court seeking regular bail in the case registered on December 20 last year, under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Majithia in his petition had contended that the then Congress government in the state did not leave any stone unturned to misuse its power and position for wreaking vengeance against its political opponents and the petitioner was once such target.

The petitioner submitted that the present case is blatantly political in nature, from the date the then government led by Charanjit Singh Channi assumed office, its functionaries were hell-bent on falsely implicating the petitioner in a case.

The High Court said there is no material placed on record showing possession, transportation, storing by or recovery of any contraband from the petitioner. All recoveries in the concluded trials had been affected from specific individuals and the petitioner was not shown therein to have any role in that regard, it added.