Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira granted bail in criminal intimidation case

On Monday, a local court granted bail to Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in a criminal intimidation case. Kapurthala Judicial Magistrate Supreet Kaur directed the Bholath MLA to provide a bail bond of Rs One lakh. The Kapurthala Police had filed charges under sections 195A and 506 of the Indian Penal Code based on a complaint by Ranjit Kaur.
Khaira, arrested on January 4, secured bail after the Punjab and Haryana High Court›s decision in a 2015 NDPS case. Ranjit Kaur, the complainant, is the wife of Kashmir Singh, a crucial witness in the 2015 drug case. Khaira faced allegations of political vendetta when arrested in September concerning the 2015 case involving the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic  Substances (NDPS) Act.

The drugs case, registered in March 2015 at Jalalabad in Fazilka, implicated nine individuals, including Gurdev Singh, allegedly a close aide of Khaira. They were later convicted, and the police seized two kg of heroin, 24 gold biscuits, firearms, and Pakistani SIM cards.

In her complaint, Kaur claimed that masked persons threatened her family if Singh did not withdraw his statement against Khaira. She received further threats via an anonymous call on October 22, 2023. Khaira, summoned as an additional accused in the 2015 case, had previously argued that the Supreme Court had stayed the trial court proceedings against him in 2017.

Arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in 2021 for money laundering related to the 2015 case, Khaira obtained bail in 2022. In February, the Supreme Court quashed the summons against Khaira in the 2015 case.