Court seeks reply from Chandigarh police on Mann's bail plea

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 30

A local court has issued a notice to the Chandigarh Police for December 2, 2021, to file a reply on the anticipatory bail application filed by MP and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann.

Mann has filed the anticipatory bail application through advocate Amrinder Vir Singh Barsat in the FIR registered by the Chandigarh Police on January 10, 2020.

The Chandigarh Police had registered a case against 10 AAP leaders, including Bhagwant Mann, Harpal Singh Cheema and Aman Arora, for allegedly pelting stones on the police in a demonstration held on January 10, 2020 opposite the MLA Hostel.

The police registered the case against the accused for the offences committed under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter the public servant from his duty), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of the offences committed in prosecution of common object).

The court had earlier issued notices to all leaders in September after the police submitted the challan against them. Other AAP leaders who have also been issued the notices include Master Baldev Singh, Baljinder Kaur, Meet Hayer, Manjit Singh Bilaspuri, Narinder Sher Gill, Jai Singh Rodhi and Sarabjit Kaur Manuka.

The police registered the case against the accused on the complaint of a woman constable of the UT police at the Sector 3 police station, Chandigarh, on January 10, 2020.

In the complaint, woman constable Manpreet Kaur alleged that she was deputed to manage the rally of AAP workers at the MLA Hostel, Chandigarh, on January 10, 2020. She said around 1 pm, a large number of AAP workers assembled at the MLA Hostel ground. She alleged the 10 leaders, who were leading around 800 workers, started moving towards the official residence of the Punjab Chief Minister. On being instigated by the leaders, the workers started pushing the police force and tried to break the barricades. Water cannons were used to disperse the workers, but they started allegedly pelting stones on the police force. The woman constable alleged that she, along with SDOP Krishan, Inspector Malkit Singh and SSP Vineet Kumar, was injured in the attack.

In the bail application, Barsat denied all charges and alleged that the police registered the case under the political pressure just before the elections.

Mann said the entire police theory was a figment of imagination and the FIR had been registered on wrong facts. He argued that Mann was detained at the MLA Hostel and the media was also present there. Barsat argued that the MP was never asked to join the investigation before registering the FIR and why the police kept mum for almost two years.