Relief For Tajinder Bagga As Punjab & Haryana HC Puts Stay On Arrest, Says No Coercive Action To Be Taken

"No coercive steps till May 10," said Bagga's counsel Chetan Mittal on the high court order. Mittal added that the court put a stay on the arrest warrant in the hearing that went on for 45 minutes. 

New Delhi: As a relief to BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said that no coercive action be taken against him after he sought a stay on his arrest warrant issued by the Mohali court. The hearing by the Punjab and Haryana High Court took place just before midnight, news agency PTI reported. Bagga moved to the HC hours after the Mohali court issued the arrest warrant against him based on a case registered by Punjab police last month. 

The urgent hearing of Bagga’s petition was taken by Justice Anoop Chitkara. "No coercive steps till May 10," said Bagga's counsel Chetan Mittal on the high court order. Mittal added that the court put a stay on the arrest warrant in the hearing that went on for 45 minutes. 

On HC's order, Bagga's father Preetpal Singh Bagga said, "We're happy that Punjab-Haryana HC directed not to take coercive action against Tajinder. Arvind Kejriwal is scared of him as he's exposing his wrongdoings. He also tried to persuade Tajinder to join AAP but he didn't join," news agency ANI reported. 

Notably, as per the PTI report, the HC will hear the petition by Bagga that seeks to quash the FIR against him on May 10. 

The arrest warrant was issued by the court of Judicial Magistrate Ravtesh Inderjit Singh earlier that day in connection to a case registered against Bagga last month. 

Bagga was charged by the Punjab police for making provocative statements, promoting enmity, and criminal intimidation. The case was registered on a complaint of AAP leader Sunny Ahluwalia, a resident of Mohali, PTI reported. 

The case against Bagga is in relation to his presence outside Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on March 30 during a protest by BJP Youth Wing. The case was registered on April 1. 

The charges against Bagga include 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place, etc), 505 (whoever makes, publishes, or circulates any statement, rumour, or report), and 506 (criminal intimidation), of the Indian Penal Code.

On Friday, Bagga was arrested by Punjab police from his home in Delhi but later came back after being stopped by Haryana police.