Overview
- Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya on Dec. 1 quashed the FIR, chargesheet and all proceedings tied to a Jan. 10, 2020 protest in Chandigarh.
- The case under IPC Sections 147, 149, 332 and 353 failed as the court found no prima facie ingredients of rioting, unlawful assembly or assault.
- The order notes no prohibitory directive under Section 144 CrPC, stating police had no basis to stop the march toward the chief minister’s residence.
- The judgment cites evidentiary gaps: no overt acts or specific words attributed to the petitioners, injuries consistent with jostling, and stone‑pelting reported only after water was sprayed on the crowd.
- Relying on the Supreme Court’s Devendra Kumar ruling, the court clarified Section 195 CrPC bars cognizance but not investigation, though the quash here turned on merits rather than that procedural bar.