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The Punjab and Haryana high court on Saturday night stayed the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party youth wing leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga after a local court in Mohali issued an arrest warrant against him. The move came a day after Bagga was arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with a case regarding provocative statements and criminal intimidation but was taken back to Capital by the Delhi Police after the Haryana Police stopped the Punjab Police team midway in Kurukshetra.
During an urgent late-night hearing at justice Anoop Chitkara’s house, the Punjab and Haryana high court stayed the arrest of the BJP leader till May 10, the next date of hearing.
Earlier in the day, Mohali judicial magistrate Ravtesh Inderjit Singh ordered the Punjab Police’s cyber crime cell to arrest Bagga and produce him before the court. The court fixed May 23 as the next date of hearing. But, the high court said no coercive action could be taken against the BJP leader till May 10.
“Whereas Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, stands charged with the offence punishable under Sections 153-A, 505, 505 (2), 506 IPC. You are hereby directed to arrest the said Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and to produce him before me. Herein fail not,” the Mohali magistrate said in his order.
The court’s order came on a fresh application filed by the Punjab Police seeking warrant against Bagga. In its petition, the police said that it had sent five notices to Bagga, asking him to join the investigation.
Sukhraj Singh, DSP City-1 said that the application was filed in the Mohali court and all facts regarding incidents in Delhi were presented before the court after which the court issued the arrest warrants.
Bagga was booked on April 1 on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali.
The Punjab Police also filed a copy of the FIR and the videography from outside the Bagga’s house in Delhi when a police team had gone there on Friday to arrest him.
Punjab jail minister Harjot Bains on Saturday alleged that through Bagga, BJP wants to disturb harmony in Punjab. “Not only Delhi, we will pick up people like Bagga, even if they are sitting in Kabul,” Bains said.
Bagga, also the national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, on Saturday said that he was at home with his father when two men arrived and told him that they had come to serve a notice to him.
“One of them opened the door and suddenly 14-15 people came inside, lifted me up, snatched my phone and assaulted me. When my father tried to make a video, they snatched his cellphone and assaulted him as well. Our phones are still with Punjab Police. They treated me as if i was a terrorist,” Bagga said.
“The response of all their notices were given as per the legal procedure. Two such responses were given by my lawyer. The hearing on my FIR quashing plea that was scheduled on May 5 was deferred because the judge was unwell. The next hearing is on May 10,” added Bagga.
Police protection to Bagga
The Delhi Police on Saturday provided security to Bagga and his father following the directions issued on Friday by a Delhi court, where the BJP leader was produced after being recovered from Haryana after he was allegedly ‘kidnapped’ from his house in west Delhi’s Janakpuri on Friday morning,
At least two police personnel from the Janakpuri police station will remain with Bagga at his residence and would accompany him whenever he is out of his residence till the further orders, a police officer privy to the development said, adding the statement of Bagga and his father will be recorded on Monday before the metropolitan magistrate.
On Friday, Bagga, through his lawyer, told the court that he apprehends that “similar incidents may occur”, and also alleged threat from the “accused persons”. The station house officer of Janakpuri police station told the court they will ensure the BJP leader’s safety and security.
(With inputs by Karn Pratap Singh)
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