Relief for Tajinder Bagga, protected from arrest till July 5
In a major relief for BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday ruled he cannot be arrested till July 5. It was hearing Bagga's plea seeking a stay on an arrest warrant issued by a court in Punjab's Mohali last week. Bagga faces charges of issuing provocative statements on social media, promoting religious enmity, and criminal intimidation.
- The Punjab Police booked Bagga last month for statements against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal over his views on The Kashmir Files (2022), based on AAP Punjab leader Sunny Singh Ahluwalia's complaint.
- Punjab cops arrested Bagga from Delhi last Friday and were going to Mohali when Haryana Police stopped them at Kurukshetra and detained Punjab cops. Bagga was subsequently handed over to the Delhi Police.
On Tuesday, Punjab Advocate-General Anmol Rattan Sidhu told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that Bagga should be presented in court. He also assured the court that no coercive measures would be taken against him. However, the HC restrained the Punjab government from taking any action against the BJP leader. Bagga was initially granted relief till Tuesday, which was extended till July 5.
A high-voltage drama ensued following Bagga's arrest by a Punjab Police team from Delhi last Friday. When he was being taken to Mohali, the Haryana Police at Kurukshetra stopped the Punjab cops and allegedly detained them. He was later handed over to the Delhi Police who brought him back to his house in Delhi's Janakpuri on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Punjab cops were stopped in Kurukshetra after the Delhi Police shared a letter and a copy of the FIR—lodged on a complaint by Bagga's father—with Haryana's Director General of Police, explaining the circumstances of Bagga's arrest. The FIR against the Punjab team was registered under IPC Sections 452, 365, 342, 392, 295A, and 34, pertaining to house trespass, kidnapping, and wrongful confinement, among others.
On Saturday, Bagga claimed the Punjab Police barged into his home on Friday and arrested him. He alleged they didn't show any warrant and they picked him up from his residence without even giving him a chance to wear his turban and slippers. "I was thrown into the vehicle. I was kidnapped...nearly 50 policemen came as they do it with a terrorist," he said.
Bagga also slammed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi CM, Kejriwal, for "illegally" detaining him. He added his detention was an attempt to warn that whosoever speaks against Kejriwal would be termed the "biggest terrorist" and "not spared." Last month, too, he claimed the Punjab Police officials reached his residence while he was in Lucknow to arrest him without informing the Delhi Police.
To recall, speaking about The Kashmir Files in the Delhi Assembly on March 24, Kejriwal mockingly said, "Some people are earning crores of rupees in the name of Kashmir Pandits and have given work of sticking posters to the BJP." "[Director Vivek Agnihotri] earned crores in the name of Kashmiri Pandits...you were left sticking posters. What are you doing?" he asked the BJP leaders.
Later, on March 31, Bagga pasted posters—reading, "Listen Kejriwal, the film that you call a lie is a painful part of our history"—outside the AAP's office. This came amid protests against Kejriwal for his blatant and "insensitive" remarks on The Kashmir Files. Moreover, members of the BJP's youth wing had also protested outside Kejriwal's residence against his "disrespectful" remarks about the "Kashmiri Genocide."
