Punjab & Haryana High Court Quashes FIR Against AAP Leaders Over Protest Outside CM Residence; Says No Unlawful Assembly, No Offence Made Out
Case Name: Bhagwant Mann & Others vs. UT Chandigarh
Date of Judgment: 29 November 2025
Citation: CRM-M-15706-2023 and connected matters
Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya
Held: The Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed FIR No. 01 of 2020 and all consequential proceedings against several Aam Aadmi Party leaders, holding that the essential ingredients of rioting, unlawful assembly, assault on public servants and obstruction of duty were not made out. The Court found that no prohibitory order under Section 144 CrPC was in force, no specific overt act was attributed to the petitioners, and the alleged injuries to police officials were minor and consistent with pushing in a crowd rather than any criminal force used by the accused.
Summary: The FIR alleged that AAP leaders led a crowd towards the Punjab Chief Minister’s residence and instigated workers to cross police barricades, resulting in pushing, shoving and stone pelting. The Court noted that none of the petitioners were identified as stone pelters, no witness attributed any specific words, gestures or exhortation to them, and they were neither armed nor shown to have used force. The injuries recorded on police personnel were abrasions and swelling, consistent with jostling in a dense gathering.
The Court analysed the recent Supreme Court judgments on Section 195 CrPC, clarifying that although Section 188 IPC had been deleted from the FIR, the State could not split the alleged acts to overcome mandatory procedural safeguards. Even otherwise, the allegations did not satisfy the legal requirements for offences under Sections 147, 149, 332 or 353 IPC.
The Court held that unlawful assembly is the foundational requirement for rioting offences, and the State had itself admitted that no order under Section 144 CrPC was in force at the time. Therefore, the protesters could not be treated as an unlawful assembly, nor could the petitioners be vicariously liable under Section 149 IPC.
Decision: The petitions were allowed. FIR No. 01 of 2020, the chargesheet dated 15 July 2021 and all subsequent proceedings were quashed against the petitioners.