In an urgent hearing taken up by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday night, protection from arrest was granted to BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga in connection with a case of him allegedly making inflammatory remarks.
In fast-paced developments during the day, Mr. Bagga approached the High Court, seeking a stay on his arrest, hours after a local court in Punjab had issued his non-bailable arrest warrant in the case.
Justice Anoop Chitkara took up the matter for hearing at his residence at midnight and issued directions that no coercive steps should be taken against Mr. Bagga till the next date of hearing.
“The High Court has granted a stay on the arrest. The Court in its direction said that no coercive step should be taken against Mr. Bagga in connection with the case,” advocate Chettan Mittal, Mr. Bagga’s counsel told The Hindu.
“The matter will come up for hearing on May 10,” he added.
Earlier in the day, the court of the Judicial Magistrate at Mohali in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district had issued an arrest warrant and directed the police to produce Mr. Bagga before the court.
The warrant has been issued in the case relating to FIR number 18/2022 registered at the State cybercrime wing.
The FIR was registered against Mr. Bagga on April 1, 2022 under Sections 153A, 505, 505(2), 506 of the Indian Penal Code, accusing him of causing instigation, incitement and criminal intimidation to cause violence, use of force, and imminent hurt in an orchestrated manner by making provocative, false and communal inflammatory statements through his interview given to media and through his posts on Twitter.
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On Friday, the Punjab Police arrested Mr. Bagga from his residence in Delhi in the same case, but while the Punjab police were on their way to Mohali, they were stopped by the Haryana Police on the Karnal-Kurukshetra highway, and Mr. Bagga was handed over to the Delhi police. A case of kidnapping had been registered by the Delhi police on a complaint by Mr. Bagga’s father. Mr. Bagga was then taken back to the national capital.
Earlier in the day, the Punjab government submitted two pleas before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, requesting that the Centre be made a party in Mr. Bagga’s arrest case.
Punjab also asked that the CCTV footage of Janakpuri and Kurukshetra police stations on May 6 be preserved. The Punjab government on Friday filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court, challenging the detention of its police officials. The Punjab government had alleged that its police personnel were detained at Janakpuri and Kurukshetra police stations.
The police of Haryana and Delhi have both denied the charges. The matter will come up for hearing on May 10 as it was adjourned with the consent of all parties, said Additional Solicitor General of India Satya Pal Jain, who represented the Delhi police.
