Kumar Vishwas moves high court, seeks quashing of Punjab police FIR against him

Terming the first information report (FIR) registered against him by the Punjab police as an "utter abuse of the process of law," former AAP leader and poet Kumar Vishwas on Tuesday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court to get it quashed.

Vishwas was booked by the Punjab police on April 12, 2022, on the allegations of issuing provocative statements against AAP national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal ahead of the February 20 Punjab assembly election in which AAP registered a landslide win.

Vishwas held in his petition that the FIR was not only utter abuse of the process of law but also, apparent misuse of the state machinery to wreck vengeance against political opponents and amounts to an unconstitutional attempt to breach the fundamental right to speech.

The petition is yet to be listed for hearing.

Vishwas further held that the FIR and the proceeding emanating from it were 'mala fide' and the manner in which the investigating agency was proceeding made it apparent that it was trying to curtail his liberty by adopting a procedure unknown to law.

Referring to the FIR, Kumar Vishwas submitted that it was alleged that he made provocative statements during the course of the assembly election to create unrest and communal instability across Punjab. He held that the reading of the FIR made it clear that there was apparent mala fide intention and abuse of process of law.

"The FIR was registered at an “alien jurisdiction” at Ropar with an oblique motive to settle political scores since the alleged statements/interviews were given in Mumbai," he submitted further.

Vishwas further held that after the assembly polls, the AAP came to power, and immediately subsequent to it, with clear intent, several complaints and police cases were registered against its political opponents just to harass them.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Alka Lamba who, like Vishwas, was also served a notice to join the investigation by Punjab police in a similar case, on Tuesday tweeted that though she had reached Punjab to join the police probe, she was now informed that she was now called on Wednesday. She said that she would be at Ropar police station (PS) at the given time and date.