FIR Congress govt’s poll stunt, witch-hunt, says Majithia in bail plea

“The current dispensation i.e. the Congress-led government has left no stone unturned to misuse its powers and position for wreaking vengeance upon its political opponents… To target the Applicant/Petitioner is one of the major election planks of the current government. To fulfill its election stunt, the Congress government of the State of Punjab has been day and night browbeating officers to register false cases against the senior leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal including the Applicant,” said the application.

Referring to PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu as “the arch rival” of the petitioner and accusing Home Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa of “pre-meditated action”, the bail plea accused the government of coercing officials to implicate Majithia.

“The government has changed three DGPs over the span of three months. The Bureau of Investigation has also seen three departmental heads/Directors change. Police officers have been forced and coerced to falsely implicate the Applicant/Petitioner or face transfers, charge-sheets and dire consequences. Officers have also been induced with promotions and plum postings if they toe the line of the government,” the application said.

The bail plea also questioned the legality of registering a fresh FIR when the trials in four FIRs related to the allegations had already concluded. Majithia further argued that the report of the Special Task Force of 2018, which was the basis of this FIR, had been superseded by another report which the state had “concealed”, and alleged that the evidence against him was at best hearsay.

The petition argued that making the 2018 STF report the basis of the FIR is “a patently illegal act and smacks of malafide.”

“It is also further noteworthy that in the entire lengthy FIR no fresh evidence has been collected or statement recorded or any recoveries effected which would even remotely suggest the involvement of the Applicant/Petitioner in a fresh FIR in the matters which have been tried and concluded long ago.”