8-year political narrative against Majithia ends in FIR

The narrative that Punjab’s youth was in the grip of drugs had started during the last decade. It was on January 6, 2014, that the alleged kingpin of Rs 1,000-crore drug racket, Jagdish Singh Bhola, told the reporters at a Mohali court during his trial that Majithia was also involved in the case.

Everything appeared to be going right for Majithia till then. He was a young leader at 37, a Cabinet minister in the then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s Cabinet and brother-in-law of the then deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. He was considered an emerging tall leader of Majha region, when the allegations of drugs surfaced. The Congress, then in Opposition with 44 MLAs in a House of 117, took up the issue. The then PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa raised it vociferously by staging dharnas across the state and even moving the High Court seeking justice in drugs case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also questioned Majithia in the case in December 2014, leaving the situation ripe for the Opposition parties to take it up.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was a fledging political outfit in Punjab at that time, also raised the issue aggressively before the 2017 Assembly elections. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would ask the electorate in his rallies as to who the drugs smuggler was. Amarinder swore by a Gutka Sahib at a rally and said he would break the backbone of drug trade in four weeks and put the big fish behind bars. Both the Congress and AAP promised that if they were voted to power, they would put Majithia behind bars.

After the Congress came to power in 2017, former CM Amarinder Singh constituted a Special Task Force on drugs in March 2017 and ordered an investigation into the alleged racket. The then chief of STF Harpreet Sidhu submitted his report to the High Court in February 2018. The report was, however, never made public. No action followed on the report. This led to bickering in the party. Several leaders, including incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, raised it several times publicly. Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was earlier a part of the Cabinet, also raised it umpteen times that the report of STF was not made public. Randhawa often said that he should be made the Home Minister so that he could act against Majithia.

The bickering became so strong that it led to a revolt against Amarinder in the party. A feeling gained ground among the partymen that Amarinder was “soft” on Majithia and did not want to act. The allegation of “softness” had its roots in the past. When Bajwa had raised a pitch against Majithia as PPCC chief and demanded a CBI probe against him, Amarinder, who wanted to oust Bajwa, had taken the fizz out of his campaign by saying the local police should handle the case and it should not be given to the CBI.

“Amarinder delayed action in the case. His government never tried to take up the issue with the High Court then. We have taken it up and they have asked us to investigate. Had he not delayed it, the justice would have been delivered then,” Deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa, who also hold the Home portfolio, told The Indian Express in an interview on Tuesday. While Congress leaders, including Sidhu, kept at badgering their own government, led by Amarinder, to take action, Kejriwal apologised to Majithia after the latter filed a defamation suit against Kejriwal. The Congress leaders often mentioned in private that they would have to pay up a huge price if Majithia was not booked as it was the pre-poll promise of the party. Amarinder defended inaction stating it would look like vendetta and may turn the tables against the Congress by leaving people sympathetic towards Majithia.

Finally, the rebel leaders were able to oust Amarinder with the help of the high command. Yet, even after taking over in September-end, the Charanjit Singh Channi government was able to register an FIR in December-end. This period saw police officers like Bureau of Investigation chief S K Asthana proceeding on medical leave after writing a note that legal action could not be initiated against Majithia. The government replaced DGP I P S Sahota with S Chattopadhayaya five days ago. Finally, on Monday evening, the Punjab Police booked Majithia.

“Our camp is upbeat today. We do not know what will happen next but the people of the state would not question us now. Otherwise, they often asked us as to why we had made it an issue if Majithia was not involved. Now, the law will take its own course,” a Congress leader said on anonymity as a number of them gathered at a minister’s office to commend the home department’s action.

While there are fears that the action may not get termed vendetta by the people, the Congress hopes that by appearing to act against a heavyweight of SAD, it may turn the fortunes once again in its favour.

CM seeks support, Capt questions move, Badal says will fight it out
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, in his message to the people of the state, has stated that he sought their support in the government’s fight that was committed to taking legal action against drug smugglers. He said that several mothers lost their sons to drugs, several lives were ruined. The government had acted against those people today who had put the pious land on the path of ruin by booking them at Mohali police station.

Former chief minsiter Amarinder Singh also reacted to the development saying, “On what basis the government had registered the case against him since the report on drug trafficking was still lying with Punjab and Haryana High Court in a sealed cover. After all, there is a law in the country and I am sure it will not stand the legal scrutiny in the court of law. Just because you don’t like someone, you can’t put him behind bars.”

SAD patron and former chief minister Pakrash Singh Badal told the media that they knew this was coming. “They have replaced three DGPs in the state. The DGP is not replaced just to put Badals behind bars. I want to tell them that this vendetta politics never pays. If any government does it then it has to pay up. They want to weaken the SAD. They have registered many cases against me. I have not bothered. There should never be vendetta. The government’s job is not vendetta. It is to serve the people. It is shameful to stoop to this (level). We will fight it out. This is nothing new for us. They have been doing it. Somestime they want to arrest Sukhbir Badal and sometimes Majithia. We will fight it out.”