Patna (Bihar): After Punjab Police arrested Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in connection with a 2015 drugs case, former Speaker and Congress leader Meira Kumar on Saturday said that these are legal matters and the arrests were made under the law.
Former Speaker and Congress leader Meira Kumar on Saturday said, "These are legal matters. Arrests are made under the law. This is a different path. Politics has nothing to do with this."
Notably, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has said that his party is fully committed to the INDIA alliance but anybody dealing with the drugs will not be spared.
Addressing a news conference, Kejriwal said “We are fully committed to the India alliance. We will not separate from the alliance under any circumstances. I have come to know that the Punjab Police arrested some Congress leader yesterday. I do not have its details; Punjab Police will tell it. But we have waged a war against drugs. I would not like to comment on any individual case or person, but we are committed to end drug addiction. In this war against drugs, no matter how big or small a person is, he will not be spared,”
Meanwhile, the president of the grand old party Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said that the party does not tolerate injustice.
Kharge, however, said that he doesn't have more details of the matter as he was in Bengaluru and came to poll-bound Chhattisgarh to attend a pre-planned event.
"I am seeking details on it...If somebody does injustice, they don't stay for long. If they do injustice with us then we won't tolerate it," Kharge told reporters here.
Congress MLA Khaira was arrested in connection with an old case registered in 2015 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Earlier in 2015, there were two cases originated with the unearthing of a cross-border drug smuggling network in Fazilka, Punjab, leading to the seizure of heroin, gold biscuits, weapons, cartridges, and Pakistani SIM cards and the second of a fake passport racket being run in Delhi.
As the trial went on, nine smugglers, including Gurdev Singh, Manjit Singh, Harbans Singh, and Subhash Chander, were sentenced in October 2017 in connection with the Fazilka case. '
As per the chargesheet, Khaira was closely associated with Gurdev Singh, the leader of the Fazilka drug smuggling racket, and is accused of having sheltered him.
The primary accusations against Khaira include supporting an international gang of smugglers, having sheltered him and receiving financial benefits from drug traffickers, and enjoying the proceeds of crime.
On February 16, 2023, a Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the drugs case.
The arrest of Sukhpal Khaira is expected to further dent the relations of AAP and the Congress which have come together to form the INDIA alliance at the centre. The state unit of the Congress has opposed any tie-up or seat-sharing arrangement with the AAP in Punjab.
—ANI