Majithia seeks protection in jail; notice issued
MOHALI: The Mohali court on Tuesday issued notice to the jail authorities after former Cabinet minister and an accused in the drugs case Bikram Singh Majithia filed an application seeking protection from the court. The court has asked the jail authorities to file a reply by April 6 over protection in jail.
Meanwhile, the court has also extended the judicial custody of the SAD leader till April 19. Majithia had appeared through video-conferencing.
Majithia filed the application through his counsels HS Dhanoa, Arshdeep Singh Kler and DS Sobti in which he prayed that he feared a threat to life in jail and sought directions to the jail authorities to ensure the protection of life while he is in judicial custody of this court.
The applicant was sent to the Sangrur Central Jail by order of the court on February 24, 2022. However, the jail superintendent and also the higher officials did not consider the jail to be secure to ensure the protection of the life of the applicant.
Thereafter, he was moved to the Patiala Central Jail and one particular barrack in the jail was considered secure to keep him.
The counsels prayed that it is most relevant to mention that the applicant did not choose his jail, nor did he choose his barrack. The same was allotted by the jail authorities keeping in view the threat perception to him. There is no additional facility worth a mention in the said barrack. The applicant has not even availed the facility of a mattress.
Majithia further alleged in his application that the dispensation has recently changed in the state of Punjab and the jails minister immediately after assuming office only for political theatrics came to the Patiala Central Jail and entered the compound and also the barrack where the applicant is lodged with armed PSOS brandishing their weapons, which is completely against the rules and is barred under the jail manual. The sole purpose is to cause humiliation to Majithia and when he was searched, no objectionable material was found from him or his barrack. Due to this frustration, the jails minister to fuel is ego has been pressurising the jail authorities to divest the applicant of even basic amenities and in this process has landed up in drastically increasing the threat to the life of the applicant, it was added.