The Union Territory administration has challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court order quashing the FIR and chargesheet against Bhagwant Mann and other AAP leaders in a 2020 Chandigarh protest case.
The Chandigarh Administration has moved the Supreme Court of India against a Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment that quashed a rioting case against several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The case relates to a 2020 protest in Chandigarh against the rise in electricity tariffs.
Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, heard the matter on Friday.
During the hearing, the Union sought time to file petitions concerning the remaining accused. The Bench then adjourned the matter.
High Court Had Quashed FIR
Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIR and chargesheet filed against the AAP leaders.
The FIR invoked Sections 147, 149, 332, and 353 of the IPC. These provisions deal with rioting, unlawful assembly, causing hurt to public servants, and assault on public officials.
The High Court held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the petitioners.
No Specific Role Alleged Against Leaders
The High Court observed that the prosecution did not attribute any specific overt act to the petitioners.
The Court noted that the complaint did not mention any particular words, gestures, or acts of instigation by the leaders.
According to the High Court, the prosecution also failed to connect the alleged stone-pelting by the crowd to the petitioners.
Court Found Assembly Was Not Unlawful
The High Court further observed that authorities had not imposed any prohibitory order under Section 144 CrPC at the relevant time.
Because of this, the Court held that the gathering could not automatically qualify as an unlawful assembly.
The Bench also noted that the chargesheet itself stated that police had yet to identify nearly 750–800 persons for filing a supplementary challan.
Injuries Linked To Crowd Movement
The High Court observed that the injuries appeared to have resulted from crowd movement and shoving rather than deliberate assault.
The Court also recorded that the alleged stone-pelting began only after officials sprayed water on the protesters following directions issued by the Duty Magistrate.
Background Of The 2020 Protest
Police registered the FIR in 2020 on the complaint of L/C Manpreet Kaur.
According to the complaint, AAP leaders, including Bhagwant Mann, Harpal Cheema, Meet Hayer, Baljinder Kaur, and Aman Arora, allegedly incited party workers during a protest against increased electricity tariffs.
Police personnel stationed near barricades alleged that the crowd became aggressive, tried to break the barricades, and later resorted to stone-pelting.
Several police officials reportedly suffered simple injuries during the incident.
