The controversy surrounding BJP leader Tajinder Bagga’s dramatic arrest by the Punjab Police and subsequent release played out in courts and in the political arena on Saturday, as a fresh warrant was issued against him which was later stayed by the HC at a midnight hearing.
BJP leaders and workers protesting outside Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.
The controversy surrounding BJP leader Tajinder Bagga took another dramatic turn on Saturday after the Punjab and Haryana HC allowed a midnight hearing and gave Bagga relief from a fresh non-bailable warrant filed by Mohali court and also stayed his arrest till May 10.
“Bagga’s plea has been tagged with the main case and now the hearing shall take place on May 10. Till then, no coercive action shall be taken against Bagga,” ordered the Punjab and Haryana HC.
In his application to quash the arrest warrant filed by counsel Anil Mehta, Tajinder Bagga alleged that the “only intent of the prosecution is to arrest him and prejudice his liberties, and to satisfy its political masters.”
The Punjab Police had booked Tajinder Bagga on the charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali.
The FIR registered on April 1 referred to Bagga’s remarks on March 30, when he was part of a BJP youth wing protest outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Bagga was booked under relevant sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place etc), 505 (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumor or report) and 506 (criminal intimidation), of the Indian Penal Code.
Bagga was arrested by the Punjab Police from his Delhi home on Friday, stopped in Haryana while being taken to Punjab and brought back to the national capital by Delhi Police hours later.
(With PTI inputs)
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