Punjab and Haryana HC quashes FIR against Kumar Vishwas over his alleged inflammatory comments against Arvind Kejriwal

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday quashed the FIR registered against former Aam Aadmi Party Leader Kumar Vishwas for his comments on Arvind Kejriwal pointing out his alleged nefarious political designs.

Vishwas had been booked under Sections 153, 153A, 505, 505(2), 116, 143, 147, 323, 341, 120B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and 125 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 at Sadar Rupnagar Police Station on April 12, 2022.

Justice Anoop Chitkara ordered, “The court’s non-interference would result in a miscarriage of justice, and thus, the court invokes the inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 of CrPC and quashes the FIR and all subsequent proceedings qua the petitioner. All pending application(s), if any, stand closed.”

The court was hearing a plea filed by Kumar Vishwas seeking to "halt the criminal proceedings at the initial phase in order to preserve his fundamental right to free speech, to prevent abuse of the legal process, and to secure the ends of justice, on the grounds that even if all of the allegations are taken at face value, it would not constitute a violation of any of the penal offences incorporated against him; thus, praying to quash the FIR".

As per the complainant, during the Vidhan Sabha elections, Vishwas gave a video interview in which he made allegations about Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, being involved with certain nefarious and anti-social elements.

The complainant claimed that to incite and facilitate violence against AAP workers and supporters, pointing to Delhi's Chief Minister, Vishwas purposefully stated in an interview that:

"One day, he told me not to worry because either he would become Chief Minister of an independent State… On this, I (Kumar Vishwas) confronted him by saying this is separatism, the referendum of 2020 is coming, and the world is funding it, from ISI to the separatist groups… He said, so what, then, he would become Prime Minister of an Independent country. Look so much separatism is in this man's thoughts to form Government and acquire power at whatever cost".

The single-judge bench noted that the complainant registered an FIR on April 12, 2022, and from April 15 onwards the investigation was taken over by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by the Superintendent of Police (Investigation), and with one Dy.SP, and SHO as its members.

Court noted that the investigations revealed that the hooligans informed the complainant that they had watched Kumar Vishwas' interview and then Alka Lamba's, who had also re-iterated the statements made in the interview. The SIT also looked into the assaults at Chamkaur Sahib on February 18 and other locations, which were said to be the result of its findings.

Senior Advocate R.S Rai appearing for Vishwas contended that the FIR was politically motivated and was filed using the State's machinery to exact vengeance for Vishwas's defiance of the party's ways and that it was a gross abuse of power and an act of vendetta because of his hostile relations with the AAP, which is now in power in Punjab and of which he was a founding member.

On Contrary, Senior Advocate Puneet Bali appearing for the State of Punjab argued that the investigation was in its early stage and on critical aspects it is yet to be completed, thus if the High Court proceeds further to quash the FIR, it would amount to not allowing the police to fulfill its statutory obligation to investigate a serious crime.

The court stated that India is a free country, and individuals and communities have an inherent right to propagate, follow, and spread the wisdom enshrined in various philosophies. All of these incredible qualities and paths were the result of the freedom to practice and inform.

“Swatantrata was not just from British rule but the slavery of thoughts, unchaining of oneself from the subjugation of alien laws, restoring the absolute freedom to think, undoing the status quo, and spreading the information”, the Court added.

The single-judge bench further observed that Vishwas being a social educator, while sharing the alleged exchange that took place with his ex-associate, could not be said to have spewed the venom and also there was nothing to infer any intention to divide the classes into communal lines.

While quashing the FIR against Vishwas, the court held that “it is a fit case for this court to prevent the abuse of the process of law because the allegations made in the complaint and the investigation do not contain any material which even remotely links the incidents including that of April 12 with the interviews of the petitioner.”

Case Title: Kumar Vishwas v. State of Punjab and another