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Registering FIRs without evidence against advocates for free expression will dampen their spirits: Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Registering FIRs without evidence against advocates for free expression will dampen their spirits, upheld by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh through the learned Judge JUSTICE SABINA and JUSTICE ANOOP CHITKARA, in the case of  Vipul Prabhakar v. State of Himachal Pradesh & others, (Cr.MMO No. 316 of 2021).

 

 

Brief facts of the case:

On July 24, 2019, a police squad tasked with maintaining law and order reported the committing of cognizable offenses to the Police Station, culminating in the filing of the present FIR.

According to the information supplied, a group of attorneys holding banners marched from the side of the Attorney General’s office to the CTO building in Shimla on July 24, 2019 at about 2:00 p.m.

Reportedly, these lawyers were chanting slogans against a High Court order. Since chanting slogans against the order of this Court was a violation of Sections 143 (Punishment for unlawful assembly) and 188 (Disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, the investigator filed a FIR.

JUDGEMENT:

After studying the case file, the court determined that the issue entailed the use of terms, but that the investigation did not reveal the name of such counsel.

It was also observed that the wording of the slogans and the court order that the attorneys were protesting were not stated.

As a result, the Court found that the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 (nothing in this Code shall be construed as limiting or affecting the High Court’s inherent powers) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, may be utilized to quash the proceedings described above.

As a result, the FIR filed against the Attorney was dropped, as were all following actions.

JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY – HARILAKSHMI

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