Supreme Court refuses to grant interim bail to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, issues notice on plea for regular bail

Denying him bail, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said, “The petitioner is accused of serious economic offences. Investigation of the case has revealed large amounts of unaccounted money in his bank accounts, as well as the setting up of a large number of companies through which financial transactions have been carried out surreptitiously for his benefit. It has also come to the notice of the investigating agency that money has been routed through some foreign entities based in Singapore and Cyprus”.

“The petitioner is directly or indirectly in control of most of these entities with immediate family members, and appears to be the key beneficiary. The transactions, as well as the assets accumulated by routing the money in the manner aforementioned, are being investigated. All this has adverse ramifications for the financial health of the State,” said the High Court.

“The investigating agency has cited about twenty material witnesses, who have been termed vulnerable. In case the petitioner is to be released from custody at this stage, the possibility of his influencing the further course of investigation, trying to cover up the questionable transactions, manipulating the record relating to the same, and influencing the concerned persons/witnesses not to cooperate with the investigating agency, cannot be ruled out.”

On Friday, Senior Advocate S Muralidhar, appearing for Majithia, informed the bench that the Punjab Government had registered a fresh corruption case relying on the same material in the NDPS Act case in which he had already been granted bail.

Muralidhar also pointed out that the Supreme Court had dismissed the state’s appeal challenging the bail granted in the NDPS Act case, and sought interim bail for the accused.

“No, no,” said Justice Nath, adding the court will hear it next on January 19, 2026.

While dismissing his bail, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, however, directed that the investigation be completed in three months.