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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday told the Chandigarh administration to “argue on merits” in a plea linked to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, saying it was otherwise “not inclined to interfere” in the matter.A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant made the observation while hearing the Chandigarh administration’s appeal against a Punjab and Haryana high court order quashing an FIR against Mann — then a Lok Sabha MP — and other AAP leaders over a 2020 protest against a hike in electricity tariffs.“Everyone does ‘naarebaazi’ (sloganeering) in a democracy. Now that he (Mann) is holding some responsible position, we understand that he will understand his responsibility also,” the CJI said.“If you are going to argue on merits, we will hear you. Otherwise, we are not inclined to interfere,” the CJI told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Chandigarh administration, after the senior counsel sought time to put the judicial records in order.Raju submitted that the Chandigarh administration was facing certain technical objections in three separate petitions challenging different high court orders and sought time to address the issue.The high court had earlier held that no prima facie case was made out against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and that the ingredients of the offences invoked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were absent.It consequently quashed the FIR and the chargesheet registered under Sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from duty) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging duty) of the IPC.The FIR was registered on the complaint of constable Manpreet Kaur, who alleged that during an AAP protest against the hike in electricity tariffs, senior party leaders, including Mann, Harpal Singh Cheema, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Baljinder Kaur and Aman Arora, incited around 750-800 party workers to march towards then Punjab chief minister’s residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh.According to the police, the protesters attempted to breach barricades and later resorted to stone-pelting after water cannons were used to disperse the gathering, leaving several police personnel with simple injuries.(With PTI inputs)
