The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab Government is facing harsh criticism from the opposition, particularly the Congress, for allegedly squandering crores of rupees from the state exchequer on hiring expensive lawyers to pursue “vendetta politics” against their political opponents. The latest episode involves the hiring of senior Supreme Court lawyer Siddharth Luthra to contest the bail granted to Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in an NDPS case.

Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa, commending the Supreme Court's dismissal of the AAP Government's plea against Khaira’s bail, strongly rebuked the Government's decision to engage a high-profile lawyer for this purpose. Bajwa accused the AAP government of misusing public funds for its vindictive political agenda.

“Siddharth Luthra is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, charging hefty fees for each hearing. AAP government seems intoxicated with power, engaging in vendetta politics against opposition leaders, and shamelessly wasting Punjab’s taxpayers’ money on its sordid agenda,” said Bajwa.

Bajwa questioned the rationale behind the Government's choice to hire an expensive lawyer when it already has a team of lawyers, including Punjab’s Advocate-General. He stressed that instead of indulging in vendetta politics, the Government should focus on utilizing resources and energy for the state’s development, especially considering the economic challenges and law and order issues prevailing in Punjab.

The leader of the Congress Legislative Party expressed concerns about the Government's priorities, stating, “The economy of the state has already been in limbo, and essential activities of the government are running on borrowed money. The law and order situation in the state is deteriorating, yet Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the home portfolio, seems least bothered.”

Out of jail, Khaira took to the social media demanding accountability for the government's expenditures on private lawyers. In his post on X (formerly Twitter), Khaira questioned why over Rs five crores were spent on engaging lawyers against him, despite the government having a substantial team of over 200 advocates in the AG Office Punjab.

Khaira urged the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to clarify whether he would fulfill his promise to recover the fees paid by the previous government in the Mukhtar Ansari case and questioned the value gained by spending crores on settling political scores in court.

“Punjab demands accountability as to why @BhagwantMann has spent over 5 Crores to engage private expensive lawyers to represent Govt against a small individual like me in Supreme Court & High Court in the NDPS etc cases, while the Govt has an army of over 200 Advocates in AG Office Punjab? CM must clarify if he will deposit this 5 Cr fees from his own pocket like he promised to recover 55 Lacs fees paid by @capt_amarinder govt in the Mukhtiar Ansari case? Bhagwant Mann should also clarify what has Punjab gained by spending crores of people’s money as fees to private lawyers merely to settle scores with opponents like me and yet losing in Supreme Court?” he posted.

Notably, the Apex Court on Thursday morning refused to cancel Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira's bail in a 2015 drugs haul case, rejecting the AAP-led Punjab Government's appeal challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order granting him the relief. Punjab government, a day before, had challenged the January 4 order in the Apex Court claiming that the High Court had not considered all facts of the case.

On January 4, Khaira, the MLA from Bholath assembly constituency was granted bail by the high court but was arrested in a fresh one related to alleged criminal intimidation.

Khaira was arrested in September last year in connection with the 2015 case, triggering accusations of political vendetta against the state’s ruling AAP from the Congress. He had been seeking bail after his alleged role in an NDPS Act case came to light during the probe by a special investigation team.

The drugs case was registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka. Nine people, including Gurdev Singh, allegedly a close aide of Khaira, were booked and convicted. Police had seized two kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, a country-made pistol, a .315-bore pistol and two Pakistani SIM cards from them.

He was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021 on charges of money laundering linked to the 2015 case. He was granted bail in the money laundering case in 2022. In February 2023, the Apex Court had quashed the summons against Khaira in the 2015 case. On January 15, a local court in Kapurthala district of Punjab, granted bail to Khaira in the criminal intimidation case.