The Aam Aadmi Party-led government in Punjab has disclosed that a Special Investigation Team was formed to look into the ‘provocative’ statements made by BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga.
On Wednesday, the Punjab police filed its response in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to the notice issued by the court in connection with the plea to quash the FIR against Tajinder Pal Bagga. The AAP-led Punjab government has disclosed that a Special Investigation Team was formed to look into the ‘provocative’ statements put out by the BJP leader against the AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.
On April 6, Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the investigation against Bagga and had issued notice to Punjab Police. In its response, the Punjab government stated that the FIR against Bagga was not registered solely on his one statement targeting Delhi Chief Minister but also on several such tweets that were allegedly “provocative, false, inflammatory, and communally divisive, besides causing harm and criminally intimidate” Arvind Kejriwal.
The Punjab government also claimed that the FIR against Bagga was registered for carrying out well-planned and orchestrated offences by issuing such statements. The AAP-led government also submitted before the High Court that they had found more offensive remarks made by Tajinder Pal Bagga.
The Punjab government counsel also argued that two more complaints had been registered against Bagga for posting posters supporting Kashmiri Hindus in the Muslim-dominated Malerkotla district and Saneta, which read, “Hindus, whose blood is not boiled is not blood at all”. The Punjab government argued that the posters were in response to the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus in the Kashmir valley in the 1990s. They argued that the complainants had alleged that such posters were divisive and created communal tensions in the area.
In the response petition, the Punjab government also disclosed that an SIT was formed to look into the statements put out by Tajinder Bagga, which found objectionable statements and posts on his Twitter handle to promote disharmony, especially against Arvind Kejriwal.
The Punjab government has filed a response petition in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, saying the BJP leader Tajinder Singh Bagga was a habitual offender and had several cases against him. The Punjab government has also urged the court to dismiss his petition seeking quashing of the FIR filed against him by the Punjab government.
In the petition, Bagga had sought quashing of the FIR filed against him by Mohali Police on April 1 on charges of making provocative statements, criminal intimidation and promoting enmity between different groups. The petition was filed by senior advocates RS Rai and Chetan Mittal on behalf of Bagga in the Court of Justice HS Sidhu.
Complaint filed against Tajinder Pal Bagga
On April 2, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga said in a statement that while he was in Lucknow, Punjab Police arrived at his home in Delhi, presumably to arrest him.
The BJP leader had alleged that Punjab Police failed to inform Delhi Police about their arrival in the state, which is against the law. Bagga had challenged Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to register 100 FIRs against him, saying that he would not stop until Kejriwal apologised for his statement against Kashmiri Hindus.
Punjab Police had registered a complaint against Bagga based on a complaint filed at Cyber Crime Police Station, Mohali. The complaint was filed by Dr Sunny Singh Ahluwalia, Lok Sabha Incharge & Spokesperson, Aam Adami Party. In his complaint, Ahluwalia alleged that Bagga and other unknown persons gave a statement on March 30 in which he instigated his followers to cause violence, use force and cause hurt to Delhi CM Kejriwal and other AAP leaders.
