The arrest of BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga by Punjab Police has touched off a massive controversy, with critics slamming the Aam Aadmi Party for launching a political witch-hunt against opponents who are courageous enough to voice criticism of their supreme leader Arvind Kejriwal.
Bagga, who was picked up on Friday morning by a team of Punjab Police, was arrested on the charges of threatening Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. The Punjab Police furtively reached the BJP leader’s residence on Friday—with the intent of detaining him and transporting him to Punjab—the state where AAP emerged victorious in the assembly elections that granted them the agency to use the state’s police force at their will.
In response to Bagga’s arrest, Delhi Police filed a kidnapping case against Punjab Police under sections 452, 365, 342, 392, 295/34 of the Indian Penal Code. While the Delhi Police is bringing Bagga back to the national capital, it is worth examining the charges slapped against the Punjab Police for the arrest of the BJP leader.
दिल्ली पुलिस ने बग्गा के अपहरण के लिए पंजाब पुलिस के खिलाफ मामला दर्ज किया
— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) May 6, 2022
IPC की धारा 452, 365, 342, 392, 295 / 34 के तहत मामला दर्ज
बग्गा आज ही वापस आएगा
केजरीवाल पछतायेगा #iStandWithTajinderBagga
Details of charges pressed against Punjab Police
Section 452 of the IPC deals with trespass to the house with the motive to hurt someone or assault any person or restrain someone wrongfully, or put someone in fear of hurt or of assault or wrongful restraint. For the offence committed under this Section, the trespasser is punishable with a minimum sentence of 7 years and with a fine.
Besides, the said offence is categorised as a cognizable, bailable offence and triable by any magistrate. This section provides higher punishment where trespassing to a house causes harm, assault, or restraint on someone.
Another charge slapped by Delhi Police against Punjab Police is Section 365, which concerns kidnapping or abduction with the intent of secretly and wrongfully confining a person. The Section says whoever kidnaps or abducts any person with the intent to cause that person to be secretly and wrongfully confined, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to a fine.
The Punjab Police is also slapped with Section 342 that pertains to wrongful confinement and recommends punishment with imprisonment of a term which may extend to one year, or with a fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or both.
Still another charge that is levelled against Punjab Police is Section 392—punishment for robbery—which states committing offences under the Section shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to a fine; and, if the robbery is committed on the highway between sunset and sunrise, the imprisonment may be extended to fourteen years.
Furthermore, the Delhi Police have also included Section 295 in the charges pressed against the Punjab Police for arresting BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga from his Delhi residence. The section pertains to injuring or defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of any class.
The Section categorically states whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship or any object held sacred by any class of persons with the intention of thereby insulting the religion of any class of persons or with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such destruction, damage or defilement as an insult to their religion, shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
The rationale behind slapping Punjab Police with kidnapping charges
While it may appear bizarre that Delhi Police has filed charges against Punjab Police, they are, however, on strong legal grounds for the action they have initiated against the police force of another state. In October 2021, the Delhi HC pulled up UP Police for arresting citizens in the national capital without informing the Delhi Police.
“You can’t take away anyone as per your will without following the due process,” the Delhi HC had sharply observed.
The UP police had arrested the brother and father of a boy who got married to a girl against her family’s wishes without informing the Delhi Police. The HC came down hard on the UP police saying that such illegal acts are not permissible and will not be tolerated in the national capital.
Since the Delhi Police was not taken into confidence and informed about the arrest of Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, it, therefore, became a case of the Punjab Police abducting an individual in defiance of the due process of law, and thus, the kidnapping charge against the Punjab Police is justified.
