Mann-Badal Proxy FIR War

The ruling AAP government in Panjab is trying to fix rival SAD leader Sukhbir Badal under old first information reports (FIRs). On 12 Jan, the Supreme Court dismissed the Panjab government’s appeal against a judgment quashing an FIR against Badal. The FIR was for allegedly violating orders passed by a public servant and committing an offense under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court wondered if the criminal case against the leader was staged. A bench of justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan questioned the Panjab government for moving in appeal against the August 2023 high court judgment, emphasizing that no case was made out to launch criminal prosecution against Badal. In Aug 2023, the Punjab and Haryana High Court also quashed a case against Badal. The case was filed by a private mining company alleging Badal obstructed its operations in Jun 2021. In Sept 2023, the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted anticipatory bail to Badal in the Kotakpura firing case from Oct 2021. However, these cases are not one-sided. In Oct 2023, Badal filed a cyber-crime case against CM Bhagwant Mann for sharing several morphed and defamatory videos about the Badals and other SAD leaders from his official social media handle. He alleged the Panjab Police was acting as a stooge of the chief minister. Vendetta through official instruments is quite common in Indian politics. However, these moves become ironic when those in power fail to get legal protection.