Days after the political circus surrounding Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday, 10 May, granted interim relief of stay on arrest to the BJP leader till 6 July.
This comes after a case was filed against Bagga over an alleged threat to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The 36-year-old can't be arrested till 6 July, the next date of hearing, the court has said.
The single-judge bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara has allowed the Punjab Police to interrogate the BJP leader only at his residence twice for one hour each until the next date of hearing.
The interrogation has to be in the presence of an IPS officer, the bench ordered. Moreover, the police have been directed not to file a challan in the case till 6 July.
The order in the matter read, "It is clarified that in case the police want to interrogate the petitioner, it shall do so only at the place of his residence at Delhi and that too, only twice before the next date of hearing. The petitioner shall be interrogated only for one hour each time between 10-00 am to 5-00 pm in the presence of his counsel. The investigation team shall not consist of more than three persons and it shall be led by an officer, not below the rank of an IPS officer."
Background
Bagga was arrested from his Delhi residence by the Punjab Police on Friday, 6 May, on complaints of causing instigation, criminal intimidation to cause violence, and imminent hurt by publishing false and communal inflammatory statements on social media.
His arrest took place over allegedly issuing death threats to Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the latter's views on the controversial Bollywood film The Kashmir Files. The Punjab Police had reportedly intimated the Janakpuri police station.
The Punjab Police had said on Friday that Bagga had failed to appear before it despite having been served five notices. The Punjab Police was taking Bagga to Mohali and would have produced him in court.
However, the Punjab Police cavalcade was intercepted by the Haryana Police. He was later handed over to the Delhi Police at the Thanesar police station in Haryana's Kurukshetra. Bagga later returned to Delhi on Friday evening.
Later, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against Punjab Police for not following proper rules during Bagga's arrest.
While the BJP has slammed the ruling AAP government in Punjab calling Bagga's arrest a “political vendetta,” AAP has claimed that the arrest took place only after Bagga did not join the probe in the case against him.
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