The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday extended interim protection from arrest to senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, in connection with a case linked to his televised remarks regarding untraced grenades allegedly smuggled into Punjab.
The court was hearing Bajwa’s plea to quash an FIR lodged against him for comments made during a talk show aired on April 13, where he cited a Hindi daily’s report claiming that 55 hand grenades had been smuggled into Punjab from Pakistan via drones, and that many were still unaccounted for.
Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya, who presided over the matter, recorded the Punjab government’s assurance that no arrest would be made until May 7, giving the state more time to file a detailed response. However, the judge clarified that the investigation would continue and that any action, if deemed necessary, would be taken only after issuing prior notice.
Earlier, on April 16, the court had granted Bajwa interim relief and restrained him from making public statements related to the case. The order, passed by Justice Deepak Gupta, also directed that no coercive steps be taken against Bajwa in the interim.
The case was registered the same day as the talk show aired, at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Mohali, based on a complaint by woman constable Taranpreet Kaur. She alleged that Bajwa’s statements were not only misleading but could cause panic, particularly his claim that “50 grenades had been smuggled, 18 had been used, and 32 were still untraced.”
Bajwa, in his petition, argued that the FIR was politically motivated and intended to suppress his right to free speech. He maintained that his remarks were based on publicly available news reports and were made in the interest of raising concerns about law and order in Punjab, especially after recent bomb blasts and an April 7 attack on former minister Manoranjan Kalia’s house.
The Punjab government, however, contended that Bajwa’s statements went beyond what was published in the media and suggested he had access to specific, unreported information about the grenades.
The court, while extending the protection from arrest, directed that Bajwa must continue cooperating with the investigation. The matter is now scheduled for further hearing on May 7.
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