The quashing of FIRs by Punjab and Haryana High Court against BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas is seen as another setback for the ruling party in the state. The high court direction came a day after Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit had turned down AAP government’s appointment of a renowned cardiologist, Dr GS Wander, as vice-chancellor (V-C) of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS). The governor reminded the government that he was the chancellor of the university and all that the government could do was shortlist a panel of three candidates for the selection of the V-C. On Wednesday, more embarrassment was in store for the ruling party with the high court cancelling FIRs against Bagga and Vishwas. While Vishwas was booked by the Punjab Police over his alleged inflammatory statements against AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a case was registered against Bagga on charges of making provocative statements, promoting enmity and criminal intimidation at Mohali earlier this year. Earlier, AAP was left red-faced when the high court had stayed the arrest of Vishwas in the case. Later, Punjab Police even had to forgo Bagga’s custody to Delhi Police while it was bringing Bagga to Punjab after arresting him. The Opposition parties have termed the latest development an embarrassment for the ruling party in Punjab. Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said that it was a “huge embarrassment not only for Bhagwant Mann government but also for his political mentor Arvind Kejriwal”. He asked Mann to get his act together and not run the state on his sheer whims and fancies. “The whole world knew sending senior Punjab Police officials all the way to Delhi to nab Bagga was sheer political vendetta and was orchestrated on the directions of Kejriwal to settle personal scores. Similarly, in the case of Vishwas too, it was only on the direction of the Delhi CM the Punjab Police had registered a case against the renowned poet. “Kejriwal could not tolerate stinging criticism by his old colleague and AAP founder member Kumar Vishwas, and wanted to teach him a lesson. That's why an FIR was registered against him in Rupnagar, Punjab. In both the cases, Bagga and Vishwas had allegedly made the statements in Delhi. Hence the Punjab Police had no jurisdiction to go all the way to Delhi to arrest Bagga and register case against Vishwas in Punjab. “The quashing of the FIRs by the high court clearly showed that both Kejriwal and Mann were acting illegally and were misusing their official position to score brownie points with their rivals,” added Bajwa. Dr Daljit Cheema, spokesperson of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), also hit out at AAP in a tweet: “The cancellation of FIRs against #KumarVishwas & #TajinderBagga by Pb & Hyn HC has proved that #Kejriwal indulged in vendetta politics & misused #AAP Govt of Punjab to fulfil its evil designs. It has lowered the image of State police in the eyes of Nation.” Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that the cancellation of FIRs was a serious indictment against the way Punjab Police was functioning under the AAP government. “You can’t run a professional force like Punjab Police as a private army,” he said. “This has also vindicated the Congress party’s stand that the government was misusing police and vigilance bureau to settle scores with political opponents,” he added. Warring expressed confidence that similar false cases registered against Congress leaders will also fall flat in the courts and they too will be quashed. “It's time for the government to read the rulebook once again,” he said, adding that the quashing of the two FIRs by the high court was an embarrassment for the Punjab Police and “someone must be held accountable for this”.
