Chandigarh, June 25: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Wednesday conducted a raid on the private residence of Shiromani Akali Dal’s former minister Bikram Singh Majithia in Amritsar in a drug case.

He has been facing charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act since December 2021, ahead of the Assembly elections.

A spokesperson for the government said the raid has been underway as part of the Bhagwant Mann government’s biggest ongoing action against drugs. A team of 30 Vigilance personnel, comprising senior officials, reached the residence when Majithia and his family were present there.

Former legislator Majithia, who is the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal, had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2022 after a Mohali trial court dismissed his anticipatory bail petition in a case under the NDPS Act registered on December 20, 2021.

In a 49-page FIR filed by the state police Crime Branch at the Mohali police station, the SAD leader has been booked under sections 25, 27A and 29 of the NDPS Act.

In his plea, Majithia had termed the case a result of “political vendetta” and argued that there was no credible and legally admissible material against him.

The court, however, had granted an interim bail but allowed the Special Investigation Team to interrogate Majithia.

The High Court had observed that there was no material placed on record showing possession, transportation, storage by or recovery of any contraband from Majithia.

“All recoveries in the concluded trials have been effected from specific individuals and the petitioner was not shown therein to have any role in that regard,” it had observed, referring to convictions of drug seizure cases of Jagdish Bola and others.

However, the High Court clarified in the 26-page judgment that the court’s opinion was tentative and was made only for deciding his bail application and should not be construed as an expression of a “final opinion”.

In March 2025, the Supreme Court had directed Majithia to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Patiala after the state government reported that he was refusing to cooperate with the probe. However, in April, the apex court dismissed the petition filed by Punjab, challenging the bail granted to Majithia.

“The respondent (Majithia) was participating in the process of further investigation. In view of the said facts and also taking note that the liberty was granted on August 10, 2022, more than two-and-a-half years ago, at present, we are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order. Accordingly, the SLP stands dismissed,” observed a Bench comprising Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Aravind Kumar, rejecting the state’s petition.

New Delhi, June 25: The Congress party on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the NDA government, alleging that over the past 11 years, democracy has been under a systematic and dangerous assault that can be described as “Undeclared Emergency@11”.

With this, the party sought to counter the BJP-led NDA government’s ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ campaign on the 50 years of the Emergency.

In a statement, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, alleged a five-fold assault on Indian Democracy.

“Over the past eleven years and thirty days, Indian democracy has been under a systematic and dangerous five-fold assault that can be best described as Undeclared Emergency@11,” Ramesh said in the statement.

He has listed these assaults in the statement alleging vilification and continued attack on the Constitution.

His first point is titled “Attacks on the Constitution” and lists five instances in which the party seeks to prove its contention.

Ramesh said that during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Prime Minister sought a ‘Char Sau Paar’ mandate for a new Constitution and to betray Dr Ambedkar’s legacy, but the people of India denied him that mandate.

“The Modi government has consistently shredded parliamentary norms. MPs have been arbitrarily suspended merely for raising issues of public concern. The government has refused to discuss critical national issues. Key legislations are bulldozed through. Parliamentary committees have been bypassed,” the statement said.

The party alleges that the CAG has become irrelevant. The Election Commission’s integrity has been severely compromised. Serious questions about the integrity of the Assembly elections in some states have been ignored. Poll timings and phases are tailored to benefit the ruling party. The Commission has remained silent despite divisive rhetoric from the Prime Minister and senior BJP leaders.

Ramesh has also accused the government of destroying Centre-state relations. He said the BJP has used money power to engineer the fall of Opposition-led state governments, frequently buying over legislators. “The office of the Governor has been misused to block bills in opposition-ruled states and to interfere in university appointments. The Centre has bypassed constitutional fiscal arrangements by overusing cesses to deprive states of their rightful revenue share,” he said.

The Congress party has alleged that there has been a definite policy of quiet threats to the judiciary, primarily through delayed elevations, punitive transfers, post-retirement sinecures for pliant judges, and selective implementation of collegium recommendations.

Ramesh’s statement said there is rampant tax terrorism and intimidation of businesses and institutions. He said the fear of regulatory retaliation has had a chilling effect on previously outspoken business leaders.

While trying to reinforce the undeclared emergency claim, the Congress party has alleged that the media has come under unprecedented pressure and journalists and news outlets critical of the government have faced intimidation, arrests, and raids.

The party has also alleged that institutions such as the ED, CBI, and Income Tax Department have been deployed to harass and defame leaders of various opposition parties.

Jairam Ramesh alleged that government critics have been routinely vilified, hate and bigotry are deliberately spread by the ruling establishment, protesting farmers were labelled “Khalistanis”, and advocates of caste census were dismissed as “urban Naxals”.

“The killers of Mahatma Gandhi are glorified. Minorities live in fear of their lives and property. Dalits and other marginalised groups have been disproportionately targeted, and ministers making hate speeches have been rewarded with promotions,” the party alleges.

Iran said Wednesday that it executed three men accused of spying for Israel, the day after a truce between the two countries came into effect.

“Idris Ali, Azad Shojai and Rasoul Ahmad Rasoul, who attempted to import equipment into the country to carry out assassinations, were arrested and tried for… cooperation favouring the Zionist regime,” the judiciary said, referring to Israel.

“The sentence was carried out this morning… and they were hanged.”

The executions took place in Urmia, a northwestern city near the border with Turkey, the judiciary said, sharing photos of the three men in blue prison uniforms.

Tehran regularly announces the arrest and execution of agents suspected of working for foreign intelligence services, including its arch-foe Israel.

After the Iran-Israel war erupted on June 13, Tehran vowed swift trials for people arrested on suspicion of collaborating with its arch-foe. 

It carried out executions of men accused of being Mossad agents on both Sunday and Monday. 

Iran is the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups, including Amnesty International.