The Supreme Court on Thursday orally asked the Punjab Government not to take any coercive step against SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia till January 31 when it hears his pre-arrest bail plea in a drugs case. In another case, the apex Court directed Maharashtra Police to not to arrest BJP MLA Nitesh Rane for 10 days in an attempt-to-murder case registered in Sindhudurg district.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli took note of the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Majithia, that the plea seeking anticipatory bail plea needed urgent hearing as the accused has been facing "political vendetta". “This is political vendetta. He is called to police station. This is all due to the election fever", said Rohatgi while seeking urgent hearing of the plea of Majithia. "Is it election fever. All are rushing to this court," the bench said.
The Punjab Police, which is aware of the fact that a plea has been filed in the apex court, is trying to arrest him, he said. Senior advocate P Chidambaram, appearing for the Punjab Government, said that Majithia has gone into hiding and now appearing here through the counsel. "Is it fair Mr Chidambaram, when you know that his petition is going to be listed,” the CJI observed, adding, "Tell your government to not do anything. We will list on Monday."
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 HC on January 24 and an appeal has been filed in the apex court.
In another case, sisposing of the pre-arrest bail plea of Rane, son of Union Minister Narayan Rane, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ramana asked him to surrender before the trial court in the meanwhile, and seek regular bail in the matter. The Bombay High Court on January 17 had refused to grant pre-arrest bail to Rane in the case, noting that a balance was needed between conflicting considerations of personal liberty and a proper investigation in the matter.
The high court had rejected the anticipatory bail applications of Rane and another accused Sandesh Sawant, but had allowed a similar plea of the third accused in the case, Manish Dalvi.
