The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed over 1,000 first information reports that were filed in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh for violations of lockdown rules during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The FIRs were lodged under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with disobeying orders issued by public servants.

The court’s order, dated October 1, was made public on Monday.

“It is apt to notice that investigations in some of these cases are still underway while other matters have been sent for trial,” a bench of Justices Anupinder Singh Grewal and Lapita Banerji said, Live Law reported on Monday.

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“A large number of these cases are clogging the judicial system, which is already under strain due to huge backlog,” the bench added. “It would be expedient and in the interest of justice if the cases…are quashed by this court.”

This came in response to a public interest litigation initiated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in connection with a 2023 Supreme Court order directing High Courts to monitor the progress of criminal cases pending against MPs and MLAs.

As part of these proceedings, the High Court in August directed the state governments of Punjab and Haryana, and the Union territory of Chandigarh, to file a report on cases registered under Section 188 between March 15, 2020, and February 28, 2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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“The Covid-19 pandemic…was an extraordinary and unprecedented situation,” the court said. “The law enforcement and other agencies, including those maintaining essential services, were overstretched and the general public at large was also facing great hardship.”

It added: “It is apparent that there were instances where people had to venture out of their houses in search of food, medicines or due to other emergent situations and in process, they violated the prohibitory orders issued by the authorities.”