Jaswant faces drugs charge, police to file case

Former Union minister Jaswant Singh faces drugs charge for allegedly serving opium-laced brew to guests at a family function.

Former Union minister Jaswant Singh faced drugs charge after the Rajasthan Police was ordered by a Special Court on Monday to register a case against the senior BJP leader for allegedly serving opium-laced brew to guests at a family function.

Along with Singh, 69, a former External Affairs and Finance Minister, nine other BJP leaders faced charges under the stringent Anti-Narcotics Act as the brew continued to leave a nasty aftertaste after it was served at the celebration at his ancestral home in Barmer district on October 31.

The nine accused were three Rajasthan Ministers—Ghans Shyam Tiwari, Narpat Singh Rajvi and Madan Dilawar, three MPs –Raghuveer Singh Kaushal, Lalit Kishor Chaturvedi and Kailash Meghwal, two BJP MLAs– Jogeshwar Garg and Shankar Singh Rajpurohit and chief whip of BJP Legislature Party Mahavir Prasad Jain.

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The action was taken by the court following a complaint filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) on November two in which the names of Singh and nine others were named.

The court asked police to submit its report before it after completing the investigation in this case.

“Special Judge of NDPS Court, Jodhpur has admitted my complaint and sent it under section 156/3 of CrPC for investigation to the police station in Balotra area of Barmer district,” Malam Singh Choudhary, counsel for the complainant Omprakash Bishnoi said.