New Delhi, 30 July (H.S.): The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in connection with a 2020 protest against the hike in electricity tariffs outside the residence of then Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in Chandigarh. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant ordered the issuance of the notice.

The notice was issued while hearing a plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order that had quashed the FIR registered in the case. Along with Bhagwant Mann, the Supreme Court also issued notices to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Harpal Singh Cheema, Gurmeet Singh, Meet Hayer, Baljinder Kaur, Aman Arora and other accused persons.

The petition has been filed by the Chandigarh administration. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, appearing for the Chandigarh administration, argued that the case involved the gathering of an unlawful assembly. He said police personnel had been deployed at the spot and a cognisable offence had taken place. Despite this, the High Court had erred by quashing the FIR, he argued.

Earlier, during the hearing on July 21, the Supreme Court had observed that there were no allegations against Bhagwant Mann and other accused persons suggesting that they had incited protesters against the increased electricity rates.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had also quashed the FIR, observing that there were no specific allegations against the accused leaders. The FIR had been registered under Sections 147, 149, 332 and 352 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) based on a complaint filed by constable Manpreet Kaur.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar