By Satinder Bains
CHANDIGARH: The Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia in the disproportionate assets (DA) case has once again brought the spotlight back on a far more serious lapse by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab—the failure to file a challan in the NDPS case registered against him in December 2021, even after four years of investigation.
The drug trafficking case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered during the Congress government led by then Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, which constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations of Majithia’s alleged links with drug networks. After the AAP came to power in February 2022, the case remained with the state police, but the Mann government reconstituted the SIT multiple times, eventually forming five separate SITs to investigate the matter.
Despite repeated public assertions by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and senior AAP leaders that the police had “strong evidence” against Majithia, the state has failed to present a charge sheet (challan) in court, a lapse that has stalled the prosecution and weakened the case legally.
Sources said Majithia was summoned and questioned several times by the SIT at Patiala, with prolonged interrogation sessions spread over months. It was during this questioning in the NDPS case that investigators allegedly gathered material which later formed the basis for the registration of the disproportionate assets case by the Vigilance Bureau.
Majithia surrendered before a court on February 24 last year following his arrest in the DA case and remained in jail until the Supreme Court granted him bail on February 2, 2026. Earlier, on August 10, 2025, the apex court had also granted him bail in the NDPS case, noting the inordinate delay in completion of investigation and non-filing of the challan.
Legal experts say the prolonged failure to file a charge sheet in an NDPS case—where the law prescribes strict timelines—seriously undermines the prosecution and gives the accused strong grounds for bail and eventual relief. They point out that repeated changes in investigation teams without tangible progress reflect poorly on the state’s handling of the case.
The continued pendency of the NDPS case has now become a major political embarrassment for the AAP government, which had made the fight against drugs a cornerstone of its election campaign. Four years after the registration of the case, the absence of a challan has raised uncomfortable questions about investigative efficiency, political intent, and the credibility of the government’s claims against Majithia.