Kumar Vishwas' Plea To Quash FIR Filed Over Comments On Arvind Kejriwal: Punjab & Haryana HC Reserves Order On Interim Relief

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today reserved its order on interim relief sought by former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and poet Kumar Vishwas who has approached the High Court to quash the FIR registered against him by the Punjab Police in connection with his statements against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.Reserving the order for interim reliefs sought by Vishwas, the Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara also issued notice to the Punjab State Government and to respondent no.2/complainant (through Advocate Kanika Ahuja). Essentially, Vishwas has sought a stay on any coercive action against himself, a stay on the investigation, and a stay on his arrest/consequent proceedings against himself during the pendency of his petition filed for seeking quashing of FIR.Vishwas has contended in his plea that the FIR is a result of a malafide intention and an abuse of the process of law and that the FIRis nothing but filed with an oblique motive to settle the political scores since the alleged statements/interviews were given in Mumbai and the FIR was registered in Punjab.About the FIR against VishwasIt may be noted that the FIR against Vishwas was registered on April 12 on the allegations that he had given provocative statements against the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal in the interviews given to certain news channels between February 16 to February 19, wherein he had stated that Kejriwal was involved with certain nefarious and anti-social elements.The FIR has been registered under sections 153/153-A/505/505(2)/116 read with 143/147/323/341/120-B IPC and Section 125 of Representation of Peoples Act, 1951The complainant in the case, Narinder Singh further alleged that Vishwas had made alleged provocative statements during the course of the Vidhan Sabha Elections, 2022 to create unrest and communal instability across Punjab.It was further alleged that due to the alleged provocative statements, leaders and workers of AAP were subjected to violence and feeling of animosity and hostility as they were being labeled as associates of disruptive and anti-social elements.Lastly, it was also submitted that as a consequence of the statements made by Vishwas, 10-12 unknown persons had restrained and waylaid and tried to assault and manhandle the complainant and others by pushing them into a corner.Further averments in the plea filed by VishwasVishwas has submitted that the alleged provocative statements were given between 16 to 19th February 2022, however, the alleged incident complained of by the complainant took place on April 12, 2022 and that the police agency got the FIR registered within two hours of the receipt of the complaint and further formed an SIT to investigate the same.Further, he has also stated in the plea that the police agency, without serving or uploading the FIR, sent the team of Punjab police officers to the residence of the petitioner with the oblique motive to unlawfully violate the fundamental right to liberty of the petitioner.In this regard, the plea submits that the police agency had failed to conduct any sort of preliminary inquiry in relation to the incident that allegedly took place on April 12, 2022, as stated in the FIR.Vishwas has also clarified that while making the alleged statement, he just wanted to place certain facts in the public domain, for a healthy discussion among the so-called mindset and that he had no intention of creating any unrest or incident based on such a statement.Significantly, referring to the recent landslide victory of AAP in the Punjab Assembly Elections, the plea avers thus:"After the recent Punjab Vidhan Sabha Elections 2022, AAP came into power with a thumping majority and immediately thereafter, with a clear intent series of complaints and FIRs have been registered against the political opponents to just cause harassment with malafide intent, on the basis of some old tweets and statements which are the subject matter of various quashing petitions."Under these circumstances, Vishwas has sought the indulgence of the High Court with a prayer to quash the FIR inter-alia on the grounds that the registration of the FIR is to wreak vengeance through politically motivated criminal investigation by using the state machinery for the oblique motive of political gain.The plea adds that even if taken on their face value and accepted in entirety (though not admitted), the FIR and the facts stated therein do not prima facie constitute any offence against the petitioner u/s 153/153-A/505/505(2)/116 read with 143/147/323/341/120-B IPC and Section 125 of Representation of Peoples Act, 1951.AppearancesMr. Randeep Rai, Sr. Advocate and Mr. Chetan Mittal, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Mayank Aggarwal, Ms. Rubina Virmani, Mr. Karan Pathak, Advocates for Kumar Vishwas. Mr. Puneet Bali, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Prashant Manchanda, Advocate, Mr. V.G. Jauhar, Sr. DAG, Punjab and Mr. H.S. Multani, AAG, Punjab. Mr. Vinod Ghai, Sr. Advocate with Ms. Kanika Ahuja, Mr. Kirti Ahuja, and Mr....

Kumar Vishwas' Plea To Quash FIR Filed Over Comments On Arvind Kejriwal: Punjab & Haryana HC Reserves Order On Interim Relief

Sparsh Upadhyay

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