Punjab and Haryana High Court quashes FIR against Sukhbir Singh Badal in COVID protocol breach case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday quashed a first information report (FIR) filed against Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal for allegedly violating government orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Sukhbir Singh Badal v State].The case involved allegations that Badal and his supporters had visited a village without wearing face masks and that they violated COVID protocol orders in 2021 while confronting "illegal" mining activities by a company..A bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara quashed this case, while also noting that there appeared to be no intent on Badal's part to violate the COVID protocol. "In a democratic country, if a well-established political person, on hearing serious complaints regarding any public issue, decides to verify the same by visiting the spot itself, it cannot be said that he intended to violate any promulgation issued by any government under Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 or Disaster Management Act, 2006," the Court held. .In his petition to quash the FIR, Badal had contended that the case was politically driven. He asserted that even if all the accusations were accepted as true, they would not be grounds for prosecution. Despite this, the State pursued legal action against him, which he claimed was motivated by ulterior intentions.As per the FIR, on June 30, 2021, Badal and his supporters visited a village in Amritsar without wearing masks. They were also alleged to have threatened the employees of M/s Friends and Company, who were involved in mining work. As per the complaint, the company's employees ran away from the spot to save their lives while the accused misled locals by saying that the mining work undertaken by the company was illegal..The police claimed that despite the company's employees clarifying that the mining was carried out under a government contract, Badal and his supporters persisted and caused disruption and commotion..As prohibitory orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic issued by the District administration were in effect during this period, Badal was alleged to have violated both COVID guidelines and hindered the legal mining activities.Consequently, he was charged with offence of deliberately disobeying government orders, criminal intimidation and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897..Badal's counsel argued that as the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, he was obligated to visit the site and assess the situation firsthand. The Court was told that he received complaints that the company was charging excessive rates for sand and conducting mining in a non-scientific manner.It was also argued that there was no evidence to prove that the petitioner was not wearing a mask at that time. Moreover, it was pointed out that being in an open area near the riverbed that was far away from any crowd, not wearing a mask was inconsequential..The Court also noted that the place where the Badal had gone was not at all crowded as the workers had fled on noticing his presence. Thus, there was no occasion at any time for the employees of the company to be at risk of infection, even if Badal was hypothetically taken to have been infected with COVID-19 at the time, the Court said.Further, the Court noted that there was no evidence to suggest that Badal had any symptoms of COVID-19 infection.Notably, the Court also found that there was no other evidence collected against Badal that suggested a violation of the law. .The Court concluded that it was appropriate to dismiss the FIR and subsequent legal proceedings and allowed Badal's plea. .Senior Advocate RS Cheema along with advocates AS Cheema, DS Sobti and Satish Sharma represented Badal.Advocate Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala appeared for the State.Senior Advocate Bipan Ghai along with advocate Nikhil Ghai, Malini Singh and Rishabh Singla represented the complainant..[Read Judgment]