Chandigarh : Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday ordered the cancellation of more than 1,000 First Information Reports (FIRs) registered against common people for breaking the lockdown imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The High Court cancelled 1,112 FIRs which were registered under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) between March 2020 and March 2022.
Around 859 FIRs in Punjab, 169 in Haryana and 84 in Chandigarh have been cancelled by this decision. This order offered relief to the people against whom the FIRs were filed for leaving their houses during the lockdown period.
The High Court said that the pandemic period is now over, and the work of the courts is getting affected by such cases in the court’s calendar.
On the evening of March 24, 2020, the Indian government announced a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19 across the country.
