A local court in India approved Monday the bail for Sukhpal Singh Khaira, a prominent figure in the Indian National Congress, which is India’s largest opposition party. Khaira is an accused in a criminal intimidation case related to narcotic substances smuggling from 2015.

Khaira, a Congress MLA from the Bhulath constituency in Punjab state, was granted bail by the Kapurthala District Court. Khaira celebrated the court’s ruling on Facebook after getting released from the Nabha jail, where he was in custody.

Khaira faced additional charges under Sections 195A (threatening to give false evidence) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The case was filed based on a complaint by Ranjit Kaur, the wife of Kashmir Singh, a resident of Dograwal and a witness in a drug case. The charges stemmed from Kashmir Singh’s statement against Khaira and other accused in a 2015 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS) and Arms Act case registered in Fazilka district. The complaint expressed concerns about Kashmir Singh’s family’s safety, leading to the criminal complaint’s registration. Khaira was arrested in September 2023 in a case registered under the NDPS.

The NDPS aims to regulate and control operations relating to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Enacted in 1985, the NDPS provides the legal framework for the production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, warehousing, use, consumption, inter-State, import inter-State, export inter-State, import into India, export from India or transshipment of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The act also outlines penalties for various offences related to illegal trafficking and abuse of such substances.