The Supreme Court has sought the response of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and other AAP leaders on the Chandigarh Administration’s plea against the quashing of a 2020 riots case by the High Court. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana issued notices to Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party leaders Harpal Singh Cheema, Gurmeet Singh, Meet Hayer, Baljinder Kaur, Aman Arora and others.

Additional Solicitor General S. V. Raju said it was a case of unlawful assembly and force was deployed, resulting in the commission of a cognisable offence, but the High Court quashed it in a totally perverse order.

The High Court had earlier held that no prima facie case was made out against the AAP leaders and that the ingredients of the offences invoked under the Indian Penal Code were absent. It consequently quashed the FIR and the chargesheet registered.

The FIR was registered in 2020, alleging that during an AAP protest against the increase in electricity tariffs, several party leaders, including Mr Mann, incited around 750 to 800 party workers to march towards the then Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s residence in Chandigarh.

The police alleged that the protesters tried to breach barricades and resorted to stone-pelting after the use of water cannons, resulting in injuries to several police personnel.