PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT STAYS ARREST OF KUMAR VISHWAS

In an interim relief, the Punjab Haryana High Court has put a stay on the arrest of Kavi Kumar Vishwas. However, the hearing on the petition to quash his case will continue.

The full order in this matter will be given after the arguments of the state government and the lawyers for their side.

Vishwas had moved the High Court against Punjab for quashing the FIR lodged on April 12 on charges of making provocative statements and other offences. When the matter came up for preliminary hearing, High Court Justice Anoop Chitkara issued a notice of motion to the state and other respondents before hearing arguments on the interim order and reserving the verdict.

Vishwas, in his appeal, had said that the FIR is not only an outright abuse of the process of law, but also a clear misuse of the state machinery to wreak vengeance against political opponents. He had said that this amounts to an unconstitutional attempt to violate the fundamental right to speech. Vishwas had said that the FIR contained allegations against him that he had made provocative statements against Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal in an interview between February 16 and February 19, alleging his association with some nefarious and anti-social elements.

During the assembly elections, Kumar Vishwas had allegedly made statements that affected Arvind Kejriwal’s image. The complainant alleges that the alleged statements made AAP leaders and workers victims of violence. The basis of the FIR was an alleged incident on April 12. It was alleged that 10-12 unidentified persons pushed the complainant and others to a corner, stopped, brought them in the way, and tried to assault them.