IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of decision: 16^th April, 2026 Harwinder Singh @ Jota ...Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ...Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE MANISHA BATRA Present: Mr. Gaurav Rana, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Roshandeep Singh, Assistant Advocate General, Punjab.

***

MANISHA BATRA, J (ORAL):-

The present petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’) by the petitioner seeking grant of anticipatory bail in case bearing FIR No. 172 dated 14.08.2025 registered under Sections 115(2), 117(2) and 3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNS’) (Section 118(2) of BNS added later on)

at Police Station Mehatur, District Jalandhar Rural.

2. The aforementioned FIR was registered on the basis of a statement recorded by the complainant Kuldeep Singh, alleging that on 20.07.2025, he was going in his Innova vehicle towards his house and while on the way, two sisters of present petitioner had given him a signal to stop and to drop them to village Baloki. He had agreed to do so and had dropped them near the market of village Baloki and had returned to his village. On the way, he was