Mumbai: FIR against 7 AAP leaders for protesting against Raghav Chadha, six MPs’ merger with BJP

The Mumbai Police on Sunday registered a first information report against Aam Aadmi Party leaders for holding a protest against party MP Raghav Chadha and six others merging with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s legislature party in the Rajya Sabha.

The FIR was registered against seven leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, including its Mumbai working president Ruben Mascarenhas, under sections pertaining to unlawful assembly, reported Hindustan Times.

Earlier in the day, several members of the party were detained ahead of the planned protest. Mascarenhas alleged that this was done to prevent the demonstration.

The AAP leader told Scroll that he had written to the police a day earlier, informing them of the party’s plan to protest outside Chadha’s Mumbai home, and had received an acknowledgement on Sunday morning.

However, he alleged that police personnel arrived at his house at about 1.45 pm, ahead of the planned protest at 3.30 pm, and prevented him from leaving. He was later detained.

“I am not being allowed to leave [my house],” Mascarenhas said on social media. “This is illegal and unacceptable.”

He said that he was taken to the Khar police station along with others before being released.

Despite the restrictions, about 50 AAP volunteers staged a protest, Mascarenhas said.

The police had blocked roads leading to Chadha’s home in Khar, restricting vehicular movement and preventing any gathering near the site, PTI reported. As access to the area was curtailed, AAP members initially gathered at the Bandra railway station before a group held a protest outside Chadha’s home.

Later in the evening, Mascarenhas said that an FIR had been registered against them and a notice under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita was served to them.

This section mandates that police issue a notice to persons in cases involving offences punishable by less than seven years, rather than making an immediate arrest.

Chadha’s merger with BJP

On Friday, Chadha said that seven of the party’s 10 Rajya Sabha MPs were merging with the BJP. He claimed that two-thirds of AAP’s members in the Upper House supported the move, which he said was in line with constitutional provisions allowing such a merger.

Chadha made the announcement at a press conference with AAP MPs Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal. However, he claimed that other AAP MPs Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal were supporting the decision to merge with the BJP. Except Maliwal, all other MPs had been elected from Punjab, where the AAP is in power.

On Sunday, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that he has submitted a petition to Rajya Sabha Chairperson CP Radhakrishnan seeking the disqualification of the seven AAP MPs.

The AAP had 10 members in the Rajya Sabha before the split and has three MPs in the Lok Sabha.