New Delhi, Jul 16 The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that it was not inclined to entertain the plea of the Chandigarh Administration against a Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict quashing an FIR against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other AAP leaders over a 2020 protest against the hike in electricity tariffs.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana made the oral observation while hearing the Chandigarh Administration's plea challenging the high court's decision to quash the FIR and chargesheet arising out of the protest march held in Chandigarh in 2020.
"Everyone does 'naarebaazi' (sloganeering) in democracy. Now that he (Mann) is holding some responsible position, we understand that he will understand his responsibility also," the CJI said, adding that the bench will hear the plea.
"If you are going to argue on merits, we will hear you. Otherwise, we are not inclined to interfere," the CJI told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who, on behalf of the Chandigarh administration, sought some time to put the judicial cases in order.
Raju submitted that the Chandigarh Administration was facing certain technical objections in the three separate petitions filed against different high court orders and sought time to address the issue.
The high court had earlier held that no prima facie case was made out against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and the ingredients of the offences invoked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were absent.
It consequently quashed the FIR and the chargesheet registered under Sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from duty), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty) of the IPC.
The FIR was registered in 2020 on the complaint of constable Manpreet Kaur, who alleged that during an AAP protest against the increase in electricity tariffs, senior party leaders, including Mann, Harpal Singh Cheema, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Baljinder Kaur, Aman Arora and others, incited around 750-800 party workers to march towards the Punjab chief minister's residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh.
The police alleged that the protesters attempted to breach barricades and later resorted to stone-pelting after water was sprayed to disperse the gathering, resulting in simple injuries to several police personnel.
