Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct 12: The Punjab and Haryana High Court On Wednesday dismissed the First Information Report (FIR) filed against former Aam Aadmi Party member Kumar Vishwas. Vishwas had accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of being a separatist and was charged with hate speech and unlawful assembly.
Vishwas, who was arrested for remarks he made in February 2022 during the Punjab assembly elections, had petitioned the High Court to have the case dismissed.
Justice Anoop Chitkara granted the request, stating that the right to free speech is crucial to democracy.
There cannot be any democracy without freedom of choice and free speech. In a democracy, it is the pre-election times when people’s information matters the most. The petitioner being a social educator, while sharing the alleged exchange that took place with his ex-associate (Kejriwal), cannot be said to have spewed the venom. There is nothing to infer any intention to divide the classes on communal lines,” the judge said in his order.
During an interview with media outlets on February 16 and 17, Vishwas said that Kejriwal had previously told him that he will become the chief executive or prime minister of an independent State or nation.
The complainant (a member of the AAP) was allegedly unfairly restrained on April 12 as a result of remarks made by Vishwas.
The bench did point out that there was no connection between the remarks made in February and either the April incident or even the later incidence of a commotion caused by several people.
None of the offences were, according to the Court, prima facie established against Vishwas.
