In a narcotics case, the MHA issued a lookout circular for SAD MLA Bikram Singh Majithia

A day after a FIR was filed against Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Bikram Singh Majithia in an old drugs case, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against him on Wednesday.

Former Punjab minister and senior SAD politician Bikram Singh Majithia has been charged under the NDPS Act, prompting accusations of 'political vendetta' from his party.

On the basis of a 2018 progress report of the probe into the state's drug racket, a charge against Majithia was filed under several provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

Harpreet Singh Sidhu, the head of the anti-drug special task force (STF), filed the report in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2018. Majithia is the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal chairman Sukhbir Singh Badal and the brother of Harsimrat Kaur Badal, a former Union minister.

The state Crime Branch's Mohali police station filed the 49-page FIR under various provisions of the NDPS Act. The sections are 25 (punishment for allowing one's property to be used for the commission of an offence), 27 A (for financing the sale, purchase, production, manufacture, possession, transportation, use or consumption, import and export, or any act relating to narcotics), and 29 (for financing the sale, purchase, production, manufacture, possession, transportation, use or consumption, import and export, or any act relating to narcotics) (for abetting or plotting an offence).

Before registering the FIR, the Punjab Advocate General's legal opinion was sought, according to the FIR. "A cognizable offence is made out based on this status report of the STF and the opinion of the advocate general, and thus a case be lodged and probed," the FIR stated.

The case will be examined by a special investigation team, according to the FIR, for which orders will be made separately. The STF report, which is currently before the high court, was based on confessions submitted to the Enforcement Directorate by several of the accused in the 2013 multi-crore drug trafficking case, including Jagjit Singh Chahal, Jagdish Singh Bhola, and Maninder Singh Aulakh.

The ED questioned Majithia in this case in December 2014, when he was a minister in the Akali administration. ''As per the findings, prima facie there is sufficient evidence on record to further investigate the role of Shri Bikram Singh Majithia as regards the allegations made in the application under scrutiny,'' said the FIR.

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi stated that the state administration is committed to prosecuting drug dealers and ensuring that Punjabis are treated fairly.

"We already knew it," SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal told reporters in Muktsar. He said that the Congress government had replaced three state police chiefs in order to bring Badals and Majithia to justice.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Punjab Congress chief, praised the filing of the FIR against Majithia, claiming in a series of tweets that it was made possible by his five-year battle with the "corrupt system run by Badal Family & Captain, and a four-year delay due to inaction on the "ED & STF report against Majithia."

The letter of Additional Director General of Police SK Asthana to the former state police chief Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota leaked on social media a few days ago, causing the Channi government humiliation.

Asthana had identified various legal obstacles in initiating a re-investigation in Majithia's drug offences.