Big relief for AAP Leader Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra; HC quashes FIR, summons

February 10, 2026

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Harmeet Singh Pathanmajara has been given a big relief. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed the FIR registered against him and all the cases related to it. The proceedings have been quashed. The court clearly said that the summons issued by the magistrate on police action is within its jurisdiction. Therefore, it cannot be maintained.

A bench of Justice Tibhuvan Dahiya gave this order while accepting Pathanmajara’s petition. In the petition, an FIR was registered on February 10, 2022 at the Julkan police station in Patiala district and the summoning order issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Patiala on April 13, 2023, was challenged.

According to the case, the Returning Officer of Sanaur assembly constituency had alleged that Pathanmajara had given wrong information in the Form 26 affidavit submitted with the nomination papers during the assembly elections. Based on this complaint, the police registered an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act. The case was registered, and the investigation was started.

Investigation not as per law, says HC 

During the hearing, it was argued before the High Court that all the sections under which the case was registered fall under the category of non-cognizable offences. Under Section 155 of the Criminal Code, an FIR cannot be registered without the prior permission of the police magistrate. The police may or may not initiate an investigation. Accepting this argument, the court said that before registering the FIR, the permission of the magistrate was not taken, thus the entire investigation process was not in accordance with the law.

In his order, Justice Dahiya said that when the initial filing of the FIR and the initiation of the investigation are found to be without jurisdiction, all subsequent proceedings automatically become invalid. Based on this, the court directed to quash all relevant proceedings against the petitioner, including the FIR, investigation, and summons orders.