Nearly eight years after his name first came up in a multi-crore drugs case, Bikram Singh Majithia—Punjab’s revenue minister under the Shiromani Akali Dal regime, scion of the powerful Majithia family, younger brother of the Bathinda member of parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal and brother-in-law to Sukhbir Singh Badal, the head of the SAD—was finally named in a first-information report on 20 December, in offenses under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Majithia’s name came up in the 2013 Bhola drugs case, a money laundering and drugs investigation pegged at Rs 6,000 crore by the Enforcement Directorate. He was subsequently named in a report by an anti-drugs Special Task Force formed by the Congress government in Punjab in 2017. The STF report, submitted in 2018 under sealed cover, had concluded that “there is sufficient evidence on record to further investigate the role of Bikram Singh Majithia.”
The FIR relies heavily on the investigation by the ED into the Bhola drugs case and the report of the anti-drug STF from 2018. In a submission to the high court regarding the Bhola case, the NGO Punjab Human Rights Organisation had suggested that action was delayed on the case because of Majithia’s alleged involvement. “The aspect of international link in this scam was again buried and involvement of Satta, Pindi and Laddi was not allowed to come on record,” the PHRO stated, referring to the Canadians accused in the case. “There is not a single word regarding these drug peddlers in it and the only reason is to shut the door on action against Majithia.”
Sarabjeet Singh, who works as the principal investigator for the PHRO, pointed out that even with this FIR, Majithia had not been not named in any existing investigations, as would have otherwise been the procedure. “In the Rs 6,000-crore Bhola drug case, multiple FIRs were already registered, investigated by the police, and cases were decided by the courts. It is not appropriate to register fresh case, rather it is required to approach the court for permission to further investigate the case,” Sarabjit said. “It should be a matter of investigation—why were the names of drug peddlers Satta, Pindi and Laadi not allowed to come on record of police files during Akali regime?”
On 21 December 2021, the union home ministry issued a look-out circular against Majithia. The LOC, issued by the immigration bureau on the request of the Punjab police, is aimed at preventing Majithia from fleeing the country. On 24 December, a special court rejected Majithia’s request for anticipatory bail.
The FIR against Majithia was lodged by the crime branch of the Punjab police, in Mohali, under the NDPS Act. He stands accused of financing drug production, for knowingly allowing his car and home to be used for drug-related offences, and for being party to a criminal conspiracy. The FIR notes that between January 2004 and December 2014, Majithia was closely connected to alleged international drug peddlers, and had provided them with accommodation and security.
In November 2013, the Punjab Police arrested the former award-winning wrestler Jagdish Singh Bhola in the case, and seized drugs worth Rs 20 crore from his home. He was arrested in connection with a case the ED had registered in March 2013, under the prevention of money laundering act. Seven other FIRs were subsequently added to the case.
In January 2014, Bhola admitted to his role in the drug trade and named various international drug traders and peddlers. Among these were Canadian residents Satpreet Singh (alias Satta), Parminder Singh (Pindi) and Amrinder Singh (Laddi), and Amritsar residents Maninder Singh Aulakh (Bittu Aulakh) and Jagjit Singh Chahal. Bhola said that Majithia was connected to these men as well.
While this case was subsequently taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the ED began a parallel probe into money-laundering associated with the trafficking. In early and mid 2014, the ED recorded detailed statements from some of these persons. The confessions were damning. They clearly suggested that Majithia had facilitated connections between key players named by Bhola, and that the politician was directly involved in transactions between these players. The Caravan has reported on these in two cover stories: a 2017 cover that traced the Badals’ tumultuous decade-long reign and a September 2021 cover story which reported on the Punjab government’s sham war on drugs.
Bhola’s confession connected the drugs seized from him to the businessman Chahal, who was arrested shortly thereafter. Chahal said that he had met Satta, Pindi and Laddi several times with Aulakh. “These persons had come to me to purchase pseudo-ephedrine”—a compound used in drug production—“and Bittu Aulakh told me that Bikram Singh Majithia has said that I should help these persons,” he told the ED. Chahal also said in a later statement that, between 2007 and 2012, he had given Majithia Rs 35 lakh in instalments because the politician “needed this money for elections.”
Aulakh said that “Bikram Singh Majithia introduced Satpreet Singh Satta as his best friend to me,” and that “Satta was coordinating his election campaign for MLA from Majitha constituency.” According to Aulakh, Majithia also told him to help Satta “for whatever business of drugs (medicines) Satta wants to do.” Both Aulakh and Chahal told the ED that Satta stayed with Majithia when he visited India, at the politicians residence in Amritsar and at his officially allotted government accommodation in Chandigarh. Bittu told the ED that “Bikram Singh Majithia used to provide Innova car, one driver and one gunman to Satpreet Satta Singh during his stay in Punjab.” Chahal too mentioned such an arrangement. He added that Majithia and Aulakh were involved in a sand-mining business, which had overlapped with the drugs case under investigation.
On 26 December 2014, almost exactly seven years ago, Majithia was interrogated by Niranjan Singh, the assistant director of the ED at the time. Majithia remained vague about his association with Satta—“He may have stayed with me a few times”—but denied having “financial dealings with him or anyone else abroad.” He admitted to knowing Aulakh. Majithia was summoned again a few months later, but he did not appear.
But there is little in the FIR to indicate whether the ED acted upon its findings and what steps, if any, it took to secure evidence. Sarabjit, of the PHRO, pointed out that the delay in investigating Majithia has resulted in the loss of crucial evidence, as no law-enforcement agency undertook even basic investigations against Majithia and the persons he was alleged to have been involved with. “Why were the mobile details of these persons not preserved? Even earlier, they were not nominated as accused in the Bhola drug case despite their role being explained by the other accused,” Singh pointed out. “Till date, the travel record of international drug peddlers and their associates has not been summoned in any enquiry.”
Sarabjit pointed to a statement by Niranjan Singh, the deputy director of the ED, given in 2018 before a special court during the Bhola case trial. Niranjan had told the court that the ED “could not trace the mobile phone used by Satpreet Singh @ Satta while he was in India.” Niranjan said that Majithia had refused to appear before the ED a second time, but admitted that he had not moved to arrest the politician. The statement “proves what type of investigation ED had conducted in this drug case,” Sarabjit said.
“The rise of assets of Majithia has not been investigated by either by ED or Punjab Police,” Sarabjit added. “They quoted the statements of Bittu, Bhola and Chahal, recorded in 2014, but at present their stand is uncertain.” He noted that it would now be near impossible to locate records of the vehicles that Majithia had allegedly provided to the drug players.
The 49-page FIR is silent on the subject of the evidence collected, or not, during the various investigations into the Bhola case. The FIR states, “It is necessary to examine the link between funds generated from sand mining and funds allegedly received by Majithia, Bittu Aulakh and others from smugglers.” The FIR also notes that, in the eight years since Bhola was first interrogated, the statements of Satta and Pindi have yet to be recorded.
Punjab’s drug problem has long been a political lever in the state. The subject was among the key issues that eventually led to Amarinder Singh’s resignation from chief ministership and his exit from the Congress in November this year. The Congress government came to power in 2017 after boldly promising action on the drug problem. During the campaign, Amarinder Singh—who was then with the Congress and the party’s chief ministerial candidate—promised to eradicate drugs in four weeks. He had even specified that he would act against Majithia, whose name had been bouncing around between law-enforcement agencies for years.
The September cover story reported in detail on why this never came to pass. The reports of a special investigation team constituted in 2017—also submitted to the high court under sealed cover between February and May 2018—alleged a nexus between senior police officers and politicians in support of the drug trade, including top officials in the Punjab Police who appeared to be purposely hamstringing the investigations. We wrote in September: “These documents indicate a picture of a deeply compromised system, in which politicians and senior police officers have facilitated and likely profited off the drug trade.”
After the 2017 elections, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Amarinder’s most vocal adversary within the Congress, had picked a very public fight with the chief minister over the drugs issue. In July this year, amid rising tensions within the party, Sidhu was appointed the chief of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. On Twitter, he openly questioned Amarinder: “What is the action taken on Majithia? If further delayed, we will bring a resolution to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha for making the reports public.”
In November 2021, tensions between Amarinder and the Congress leadership in Delhi came to a head, and the chief minister resigned from his post as well as his membership of the party. After him, Charanjit Singh Channi, known to be close to Sidhu, was appointed chief minister. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who was appointed deputy chief minister under Channi, noted that the STF and SIT reports were submitted to the government under Amarinder, but that no action was taken. “Now, we have simply done the next logical thing as per the law to curb drug menace and stop the political patronage to the same,” Randhawa said. Since Amarinder’s resignation, Sidhu has been pushing for senior police appointments to go to those who are seen as cracking down on drugs, such as Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, who headed the 2017 SIT. Earlier this month, Chattopadhyaya was appointed the acting director general of police in Punjab, until a formal shortlist of empanelled officers eligible for the post is approved by a government committee.
In November this year, Majithia approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court requesting that he be made a party in the Bhola drug cases. He claimed that his image was being “tarnished … under the garb of public interest.” Majithia levelled allegations against the deputy CM Randhawa and Sidhu, who he claimed were indulging in “unwarranted propaganda.” Majithia pleaded before the court that no evidence against him had been made out from the challans earlier presented in drug cases.
Amarinder accused the Channi government of targeting Majithia unfairly, calling the FIR “a wrong case.” He told the media, “I know this case very well. The investigation report of this case is sealed in the Punjab-Haryana High Court despite that, the case has been registered against Majithia just to take out political revenge. This system is wrong.” Meanwhile, the Badals have called it a “false case.” Sukhbir Singh Badal, Majithia’s brother-in-law, said that his party “accepts the challenge.” He added that “those abusing their political positions and playing havoc with the rule of law [should] be ready for legal consequences.” He too accused the Congress government of “political vendetta.” With the assembly elections due in 2022, it remains to be seen whether the case will yield any action or remain confined to political talking points.