The Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 12 quashed the FIR registered against former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and poet Kumar Vishwas by Punjab police in connection with a case of making ‘inflammatory remark through an interview’ against Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal accusing him of having links with ‘separatist elements’, and provoking enmity.
Pronouncing the Order Justice Anoop Chitkara pointed out that given the facts and circumstances peculiar to this case, the court’s non-interference would result in a miscarriage of justice, and thus, the court invokes the inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 of Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and quashes the FIR and all subsequent proceedings qua the petitioner. All pending application, if any, stand closed.
“The parties do not dispute the factum of the interview and its correctness. The matter requires nothing else to be proved. The veracity of the statements made in the interview is not required to be gone into and considered by launching the prosecution for trial as the same remains undisputed. The only relevant issue that remains to be addressed is whether the interview of the petitioner given on February 16, 2022, led to the incident of April 12, 2022..” observed the court.
“..it is a fit case for this court to prevent the abuse of the process of law because the allegations made in the complaint and the investigation do not contain any material which even remotely links the incidents including that of April 12 with the interviews of the petitioner,” read the Order.
Mr. Vishwas, during the high-voltage election campaign for the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections had accused Mr. Kejriwal of supporting separatists. According to the complaint Mr. Vishwas as part of a notorious campaign, gave the provocative video interview, levelling imputations about the involvement of the Chief Minister of Delhi, with certain nefarious and anti-social elements on February 16, aimed to use it as a tool and an opportunity against AAP workers.
After the AAP formed government, the Punjab Police on April 12, registered a case at Rupnagar’s Sadar police station against Mr. Vishwas under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) - including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place etc), 505 (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), besides Section 125 of the Representation of People Act (Promoting enmity between classes in connection with election). During the investigation, the police also examined the incidents of assaults at Chamkaur Sahib on February 18, and other places, which were stated to be its outcome. Mr. Vishwas then approached the High Court, seeking a quashing of the FIR against him, after which on May 2, the High Court had stayed his arrest.
The Order further added “..suppose all the allegations made in the complaint and the subsequent investigation are taken at the face value, still, there is not even an iota of evidence of any proximity between the interview and the incidents of Chamkaur Sahib, etc., and the one that had taken place on April 12...” Alos, the Order said “..in a democracy, it is the pre-election times when people’s information matters the most. The petitioner being a social educator, while sharing the alleged exchange that took place with his ex-associate, cannot be said to have spewed the venom. There is nothing to infer any intention to divide the classes on communal lines.”
The case was registered against Mr. Vishwas on a complaint of an AAP supporter, in which it was alleged that 10-12 unknown persons waylaid and tried to assault and manhandle the complainant while he was roaming with party supporters in villages to address the grievances of the people. The unidentified people also called them ‘ Khalistanis’. The complaint added that it all started after Mr. Vishwas made ‘inflammatory statements’ against Mr. Kejriwal on news channels-social media platforms, accusing the AAP of having links with separatist elements.
