‘Democracy all about informing people’: Punjab Hry HC quashes FIR against Tajinder Bagga filed by AAP

New Delhi: The FIRs against BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and former AAP leader Kumar Vishwas have been quashed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday.

Both Bagga and Vishwas were booked by the Punjab Police in separate cases.

The Punjab Police had accused Bagga of spreading misinformation and communal disharmony and publishing inflammatory statements against Delhi chief minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

‘Nothing in speech which points towards petitioner’s intention to divide communities on regional, religious lines’: HC

The order was pronounced by the bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara who said that there was nothing in Bagga’s statements to take them as an insult or threat or an attempt to vilify the members of the targeted group.

“There is nothing in the speech which points towards petitioner’s intention to divide the communities on regional and religious lines. The petitioner’s agitation cannot be termed other than political, and there is no evidence of any specific incident in the complaint that led to the peace breach because of the statement,” the court said.

Justice Anoop Chitkara said he saw all the tweets and posts that were placed on record by AAP and BJP and “there was no allegation that the petitioner had posted such tweets by entering the State of Punjab, or any incident had taken within its territories due to such tweet.”

The Judge went on to say, “Every post of the petitioner will not give territorial jurisdiction to the State of Punjab to investigate in the guise of the present FIR. Had the investigating agency of another State been given that much leverage, it would impact the federal structure under the Indian Constitution, where every State has the right to maintain law and order within its territorial boundaries.”

“The purported statement of the petitioner is a protest against the statement made by the leader of AAP in power in Delhi and Punjab, where the BJP is in opposition. Being a political activist and an official spokesperson of a political party, as a shadow of the incumbent, it was well within his rights to make the people aware of the response of an opposite political leader. Democracy is all about informing the people and creating sentiments, and it would be an offence only if campaigning is full of hatred, or there is an involvement in malicious activities, or derogatory and vicious statements are made to gain political mileage,” the court said.

The Judge said that the phrase by Bagga, “BJP yuva morcha ka ye karyakarta inhen jine nahin dega” cannot be seen independent of the entire statement. Rejecting the the argument, he said that it was an act of criminal intimidation or a threat to kill.

“Further the context and the behavior, particularly criminal, is also a material factor in arriving at a conclusion in such situations. 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, 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 court said.

“Thus, based on this criminal history, there is nothing to assume that the petitioner is a habitual offender, or a gangster, or a mafia, or an anti-social element. In the given context, the petitioner’s assertion that ‘Agar wo maafi nahi mangte to Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha ka ye Karyakarta unhe jine nahi dega’ reasonably amounts only to making somebody’s life restless with nagging about the undoing of an act,” the court added.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court also said that that merely because the language used by Bagga is “unrefined”, it cannot be sufficient to “import hatred, detestation or slander to its contents”.

“The court’s non-interference would result in a miscarriage of justice, and thus, the court invokes the inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 of CrPC and quashes the FIR and all subsequent proceedings qua the petitioner. All pending application(s), if any, stand closed,” the court concluded.

‘Now Kerjriwal will lose Delhi’

Reacting to the High Court’s verdict, Bagga said: “Kejriwal lost in Court, Now he will lost Delhi. @ArvindKejriwal ji apni sarkar ki ulti ginti shuru kar dijiye.”

Kejriwal lost in Court, Now he will lost Delhi. @ArvindKejriwal ji apni sarkar ki ulti ginti shuru kar dijiye

— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) October 12, 2022

Why was Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga arrested?

Bagga was arrested on 7 May after a cat-and-mouse-chase over his custody between the police of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

An FIR was registered against him for allegedly criticising Kejriwal after the release of 'The Kashmir Files' movie and demanding entertainment tax exemption for screenings in Delhi.

According to Bagga, the Delhi CM refused to grant any such concession and "allegedly also mocked the authenticity of the movie's storyline". Following which, Bagga had demanded an apology from Kejriwal.

In April, a written complaint against Bagga was given to Cyber Crime Cell of Punjab Police accusing him of causing instigation and incitement with his statements. The complaint by AAP further accused Bagga of issuing inflammatory statements to outrage religious feelings and promote disharmony. Bagga was also accused of spreading falsehood and making communally divisive statements against Kejriwal.

With inputs from agencies

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