Chandigarh, Jan 25 (IANS): In a reprieve to senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia from arrest in a drugs-related case, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted protection against the arrest for three days.

Majithia, the brother-n-law of SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, is in fray for the February 20 assembly polls from Majitha, near Amritsar.

With this, he can approach the Supreme Court for challenging the high court order dismissing his anticipatory bail plea.

Justice Lisa Gill said the protection would be only for three days. She said the court did not find ground to afford one week as prayed for.

Earlier in the day, a team of Punjab Police conducted a raid at the residence of Majithia in Amritsar after dismissal of interim anticipatory bail by the high court on Monday.

Majithia had moved the high court after a Mohali court dismissed his anticipatory bail petition in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act registered on December 20.

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.

Majithia's case was argued by senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, while the Punjab government's case was represented by former Union Minister P. Chidambaram.

"It is more than apparent that the present FIR has been registered against the petitioner keeping an eye on the forthcoming elections. The petitioner's fundamental rights are at stake," said the petition.