The Supreme Court on Friday deferred hearing on the Chandigarh Administration’s petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order quashing a rioting case against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, his ministers Aman Arora and Harpal Singh Cheema and some other AAP leaders in connection with a 2020 protest.Almost six years after the registration of FIR, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had on November 29, 2025, quashed the FIR, charge sheet and all subsequent proceedings against Mann and other AAP leaders.The Chandigarh Police had lodged the case on January 10, 2020, after Mann, Arora, Cheema, Baljinder Kaur, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, Sarvjeet Kaur and others took out a protest march against an electricity tariff hike.A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi adjourned the hearing after the Chandigarh Administration sought time to file petitions in relation to some other accused in the case.On behalf of the UT Administration, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju said they needed to add more respondents who were granted relief by the high court in the case last year.”We will list it. Impleadment (adding more respondents) to be filed,” CJI Kant said.In his November 29, 2025, order, Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya of the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the FIR against Mann and other AAP leaders, saying there was no reason for the police to stop the protesters as no prohibitory order had been issued under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.“Nobody has been named from amongst the persons present who allegedly pelted stones on the police force. Besides, it is not the case that the petitioners asked them to do so. The nature of alleged instigation by the petitioners has also not been mentioned; nor have specific words or gestures of any kind been attributed to them,” the high court said.The Chandigarh Police registered the case against the leaders on the complaint of a woman constable of the Chandigarh Police at Police Station, Sector 3, Chandigarh under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter the public servant from his duty), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of the offences committed in prosecution of common object).The complaint alleged that on January 10, 2020, many workers of the party led by these leaders pushed and attacked the policemen while they were stopped to move towards the official residence of the then Chief Minister. She alleged that on being instigated by the leaders, the workers started pushing the police force and tried to break the barricades.Water cannons were used to disperse them but the workers allegedly started pelting stones on the police force. She alleged many cops were injured in the attack.