Won’t proceed against Sukhpal Khaira in drugs case: Punjab Govt to SC

New Delhi, April 10

In a reprieve to Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira, the Punjab Government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court it would not proceed with the trial in a 2015 drugs case against him for the time being.

On behalf of the government, senior advocate Siddharth Dave told a Bench led by Justice Bela M Trivedi that the state would not proceed with the trial against Khaira till the next date of hearing.

Following Dave’s submission, the Bench listed after four weeks Khaira’s petition challenging the January 4 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court upholding as legal his arrest in the 2015 drugs case in September last year. It also gave time to the Punjab Government to respond to Khaira’s petition.

On behalf of Khaira, senior advocate PS Patwalia and advocate Nikhil Jain opposed Dave’s prayer seeking time to respond. The proceedings before the trial court should be stayed till the next date of hearing, they submitted.

Patwalia submitted that the state government was yet to file its response to Khaira’s plea despite issuance of notice. He said the state police filed the chargesheet in the drugs haul case on January 20 and the proceedings before the trial court were going on.

On January 4, Khaira was granted bail by the high court in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Arms Act case lodged in 2015 but was arrested in a fresh case related to alleged criminal intimidation.

He had moved the high court challenging his arrest in the 2015 case, terming it “political vendetta” unleashed upon him by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state.

Khaira’s bail in the 2015 case was later challenged by the Punjab Government before the top court which refused to cancel it.

Bholath MLA takes a dig at govt

• Sukhpal Khaira’s tweet on the Punjab Government not proceeding with trial against him in the 2015 drug case generates political heat
• The Congress leader said the state government’s stand in the apex court could be admission that there was nothing in the case
• He said it could also be a move to confuse the voters that AAP was now going soft on Khaira, who was likely to be a Congress candidate from Sangrur