Punjab and Haryana HC quashes FIRs against Delhi BJP leader Bagga, Kumar Vishwas
Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and poet Kumar Vishwas were booked in April soon after the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government took charge in Punjab
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday quashed criminal cases registered by Punjab Police against Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and poet Kumar Vishwas.
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While Bagga was booked on April 1 by Mohali police for allegedly making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation; the criminal case against Vishwas was registered on April 12 for promoting enmity between groups, criminal conspiracy, publishing or circulating a news report with intent to create enmity on the grounds of religion.
Both the FIRs were registered after Bhagwant Mann led AAP government took over reins in Punjab.
“If a gangster, mafia, or a recidivist makes a statement that he will not let somebody live, the first probable reasonable assumption that is likely to be drawn is a threat to assassinate, however, if an ordinary person, e.g., a nagging spouse or a disgruntled boss, makes such a statement in response to the doing or undoing of something, it would altogether have a different first impression. The petitioner’s statement did not seek an armed rebellion and was not a call to assault,” the bench of justice Anoop Chitkara said while referring to the statement of Bagga on the basis of which he was booked. Allegations were that he made a statement to incite others to cause violence or use of force against Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
Bagga’s arrest from Delhi by Punjab Police triggered a controversy with allegations that he was picked up without following the due process. He was freed after Haryana Police stopped the convoy in Kurukshetra and his custody was given to Delhi Police. Punjab Police returning empty-handed with a criminal case registered against them in Delhi for kidnap. Later, he secured an interim protection from the Punjab and Haryana high court against arrest.
As of Kumar Vishwas, the court said, “In a democracy, it is the pre-election times when people’s information matters the most. The petitioner (Vishwas) being a social educator, while sharing the alleged exchange that took place with his ex-associate (Kejriwal), cannot be said to have spewed venom. There is nothing to infer any intention to divide the classes on communal lines,” the court said, quashing the FIR against him.
The allegations were that Vishwas made provocative statements against Kejriwal in an interview, claiming his involvement with “nefarious and anti-social elements” in Punjab. It was also alleged that Vishwas made statements during the course of the February 2022 Punjab elections to create unrest and communal instability.
The statements by Vishwas were made in mid-February 2022. The complaint was made about an incident of alleged violence against an AAP worker on April 12 in Rupnagar.
