CHANDIGARH: A day after the ‘arrest and rescue’ of Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, a Mohali court in Punjab on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against him in a case registered last month by the state police. The Bagga episode has triggered questions about police jurisdiction, exposing the faultlines in maintaining inter-state law and order.
The court of Judicial Magistrate Ravtesh Inderjit Singh issued the arrest warrant. “Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, son of Pritpal Singh of Janakpuri, Delhi stands charged with the offence punishable under IPC sections 153-A (wanton vilification), 505 505 (2) and 506 (intentional insult and provocation). You (Punjab Police) are hereby directed to arrest Bagga and produce him before the court,’’ says the order. The Judicial Magistrate has asked the Cyber Crime Branch of Mohali to arrest Bagga and produce him before the court. The next hearing is due on May 23.
The Punjab Police arrested Bagga from his Delhi home on Friday, but he was stopped in Haryana and brought back to the national capital by Delhi Police hours later. Last month, a case was registered at the cyber cell in Mohali against Bagga on charges of promoting enmity between different groups, statements amounting to public mischief and statements promoting enmity.
The complaint came from Punjab AAP spokesperson Sunny Singh Ahluwalia. The Punjab government on Saturday moved two applications before the Punjab and Haryana High Court. One sought to make the Centre a party in the Bagga case and the other sought preserving the May 6 CCTV footage of Janakpuri and Kurukshetra police stations. The High Court has adjourned the matter for May 10.