THE NEWS DOSE DESK
Chandigarh|June 28,UPDATED:9.50PM
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government, daring the Chief Minister to prove that Saraya Industries — in which SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia holds an 11% inherited stake — had received even a single rupee of foreign funding since 2007.
Addressing a press conference following Majithia’s arrest in a disproportionate assets case, Badal termed the move a “political witch-hunt,” alleging that the case was filed because Majithia had been consistently exposing the AAP government on various fronts.
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested Majithia on June 25 in connection with the alleged laundering of ₹540 crore in “drug money.” The SAD chief, however, dismissed the Vigilance Bureau’s claims and presented documents to counter the allegations of foreign funding.
Badal said the only foreign investment Saraya Industries received was in March 2006 — a year before SAD came to power in Punjab — when US-based Clearwater Corporation invested ₹35 crore for a 25% equity stake. He noted that Majithia entered politics only in 2007.
“Clearwater Corporation, with global operations and investments worth ₹50,000 crore, routed funds through an RBI-cleared NBFC with approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board,” Badal asserted, dismissing the ₹540 crore allegation as “baseless, malicious, and politically motivated.”
He also pointed out that all cash transactions by Saraya Industries, including sugarcane procurement and distillery operations, had already been scrutinised by the Income Tax Department.
“Saraya Industries is a separate corporate entity and cannot be equated with Majithia. He has no role in its day-to-day operations,” Badal clarified.
Accusing Chief Minister Mann of pressuring the DGP to register the case without proper investigation, Badal said, “No questionnaire was issued to Majithia, which is a mandatory step before filing such a case.”
He further alleged that the FIR was based verbatim on an affidavit submitted by the Punjab government to the Supreme Court in 2023 while seeking cancellation of Majithia’s bail in the 2021 drug case — an affidavit the apex court rejected in April this year. The SC had refused to revoke Majithia’s bail or permit custodial interrogation, instead directing the state to complete its probe within two days.
“Having failed in the Supreme Court, the AAP government has now resorted to filing a fresh case as part of its vendetta politics,” Badal said.
He also condemned the summoning of retired officers — former DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya and ex-ED Deputy Director Niranjan Singh — by the Vigilance Bureau, calling it “unprecedented misuse of power.”
Calling the entire case “illegal and fabricated,” Badal concluded, “We will take this issue to the people and expose the AAP government’s real face.”
