New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday gave a big relief to senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia. The Supreme Court has stayed Majithia's arrest till February 23 and asked him to surrender before the concerned trial court on February 23 and apply for regular bail in the drug case.

Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had granted three days protection from arrest to Bikram Singh Majithia so that he can file a petition in the apex court against the dismissal of his anticipatory bail plea. The court of Justice Lisa Gill had rejected Majithia's application for anticipatory bail in the drug case. The process of nomination for the polling to be held on February 20 in Punjab had started on Tuesday. In this election, Majithia is contesting against Punjab Congress unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu from East Amritsar. A case was registered against 46-year-old Majithia under the NDPS Act last month, following which he had approached the High Court for anticipatory bail.

The High Court had on January 10 granted him interim relief from arrest and directed him to join the investigation on January 12. Along with this, the court had also imposed some conditions on him including not leaving the country. Later, the interim relief period was extended to January 18. Majithia is the brother-in-law of Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal and brother of former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

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