AAP, SAD, Cong leaders squabble over bail; BJP welcomes HC decision

Punjab former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who was also the home minister when Majithia was booked in drugs case, accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of “not fighting the case properly even as Majithia accused the former Congress government of vendetta”. Randhawa alleged, “The AAP failed to contest the case. There is a motive. Do not forget how Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had apologised to Majithia after the 2017 assembly elections. The AAP government’s softness towards Majithia is coming from there. Also, if you dig deeper, you will know why senior lawyer Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu had resigned as Advocate General (AG). Today’s bail for Majithia is an embarrassment for the AAP government even as it points towards a quid pro quo.”

He said Majithia was alleging vendetta, but “he should know that he had applied for bail at the highest level of judiciary. Still he did not get it. What does he have to say about those judges. Was that also vendetta”?

Majithia, after coming out of Patiala jail, mocked at former CM Charanjit Singh Channi and said that he was booked during Channi’s regime. Channi could not form the government again and is not even seen in politics anymore. Without naming former PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, Majithia said, “He was my neighbour and was banging his head against the walls (of the jails).”

He said such “tortures on him meted out by previous government were not uncommon. God bless all those who prayed for
me”. On Randhawa’s allegations, AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang retorted, “I want to tell Randhawa sahib that bail to Majithia was honourable judge’s discretion. Majithia has spent six months in jail. He went to the Supreme Court, but he did not get it then. Now, he has got bail. Though the matter is sub judice as he has not been acquitted yet and is out only on bail, I would like to tell Randhawa that our law office is not working like him.
Bhagwan Mann government is very serious in handling drug-related cases.”

Meanwhile, SAD spokesperson Daljeet Singh Cheema called it a happy day for the entire cadre of Akali Dal. Cheema said, “The previous Congress government had lodged a false case against Majithia and even the present AAP government had used its entire machinery to further proceed this ‘false’ case. But we had full trust in judiciary. We are thankful to the Punjab and Haryana High Court for granting Majithia a regular bail. I extend warm wishes to the entire Akali Dal leadership. The day is not far when all the conspirators who were involved in getting the fake case registered against Majithia will get exposed.”

Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is the elder sister of Majithia, posted a picture of her brother carrying the holy Guru Granth Sahib on his head with a message “Akal purakh da kotan koti Shukrana”.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal thanked God for bail to her brother. She said, “I am thankful to God that I don’t have to go to jail to tie rakhi on my brother’s wrist. He is out on bail.” In Gurdaspur, cadre of Youth Akali Dal distributed ‘ladoos’ and raised slogans in favour of Majithia saying that “Majithia will come out clean soon”. A large number of
Akali Dal cadre from across the state visited Patiala to give Majithia a grand welcome on his release from jail.

Hailing the granting of bail to Majithia, BJP national executive member Harjeet Singh Grewal said, “Majithia did not go underground when charges were levelled against him. Rather he surrendered himself, setting an example of a good citizen. He trusted the judiciary. And in future also, I am sure he will face the judiciary and come out clean. He must be congratulated for getting bail. He is a kind person. May God bless him.”