Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed the FIR registered against Aam Aadmi Party leader and Sanour MLA Harmit Singh Pathanmajra, along with the summons issued by a lower court in connection with the case.
Pathanmajra had been accused of providing incorrect information in his election affidavit. Allowing the petition, Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya held that the registration of the FIR by the police and the subsequent issuance of summons by the magistrate were beyond the scope of legal authority in this case.
In its ruling, the court observed that all allegations levelled against Pathanmajra were non-cognisable in nature. In such cases, the police cannot register an FIR or conduct an investigation without prior permission from a magistrate. The court found that the FIR was registered directly on the basis of a letter written by the returning officer to the police, which amounted to a violation of Section 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The high court also set aside the summons issued by the Patiala chief judicial magistrate, noting that the complaint was addressed to the DSP and not to the magistrate, making the issuance of summons legally untenable.
With this order, the court granted significant legal relief to Pathanmajra, effectively closing the case against him.
