CHANDIGARH, July 19— The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the operation of a summons issued by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) to Fastway managing director Gurdeep Singh, who was called to appear in connection with the disproportionate assets case registered last month against Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia.
The VB had directed Singh to appear on July 17, seeking information on whether he held any shareholding or partnership in the moveable or immovable assets of Majithia or his family members.
The stay was granted by Justice Sandeep Moudgil during a hearing on Thursday, after Fastway challenged the notice, alleging political retaliation. The bench has now posted the matter for further hearing on July 22. The detailed order was released on Friday.
In its petition, Fastway contended that the VB’s action was linked to a news channel run by the company, which aired reports following Majithia’s arrest on June 25. The petition claimed that since the channel did not yield to government pressure to suppress its coverage, the summons was issued to Singh as an act of vendetta. The company also questioned the legality and maintainability of the notice.
Fastway, a major cable service provider and multi-system operator in Punjab, also runs multiple media outlets, including news channels and a newspaper.
The stay was sought under a 2022 petition filed by the company, which had earlier sought transfer of multiple FIRs against its employees to the CBI. In those proceedings, the high court had already restrained Punjab Police from arresting Gurdeep Singh in nearly nine FIRs lodged across the state.
Majithia, meanwhile, remains in judicial custody following his arrest in a disproportionate assets case allegedly involving the laundering of ₹540 crore. This case is part of an ongoing probe by a Punjab Police special investigation team, linked to an earlier 2021 drug case under the NDPS Act, initiated based on a 2018 report by the anti-drug Special Task Force.
The former minister was previously jailed for over five months in that matter and was released on bail in August 2022 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
