Times of India: Chandigarh: Tuesday, 6Th
January 2026.
Four individuals, including an RTI activist and journalists, knocked on the doors of the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking the quashing of an FIR registered against them for allegedly spreading misinformation over the use of the Punjab chief minister's official helicopter.
In their petition before
the HC, they challenged FIR No 67 registered at the cybercrime police station,
Ludhiana. The FIR invoked Sections 353(1), 353(2) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya
Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), provisions related to public mischief, promotion of disharmony
and criminal conspiracy.
According to the petitioners, the FIR stemmed from a social media post by Manik Goyal, a law student and RTI activist, who raised questions about the movement of a helicopter allotted to the CM on Dec 8, when the CM was on a visit to Japan. Goyal relied on publicly accessible flight-tracking data from an app (internet platform) and questioned who used the helicopter during the CM's absence.
The issue gained traction after journalists Baljinder Singh alias Mintu Gurusaria, Maninderjeet Singh, and Mandeep Singh Makkar reported on the matter and discussed the lack of official clarification regarding the helicopter's use. The petitioners maintained that their actions were part of legitimate journalistic inquiry and public-interest reporting.
The FIR was registered on a complaint by police inspector Satbir Singh, and did not cite any private complainant. While the FIR acknowledged the helicopter flew on the stated date and was used by a constitutional functionary, it did not disclose the identity of the person or the purpose of the flights.
In their plea, the petitioners argued that raising questions on the use of public resources and sharing publicly available information was protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. They alleged that the FIR was "mala fide" and intended to intimidate journalists and suppress dissent.
The petition also pointed to earlier RTI applications filed by Goyal in 2024 seeking details of govt expenditure on aircraft, which were denied citing security exemptions. Despite appeals, no information was furnished, prompting the reliance on open-source data, the plea stated. The matter is expected to be taken up before the high court next week. The petitioners also sought a stay on further proceedings during the pendency of the case.
Four individuals, including an RTI activist and journalists, knocked on the doors of the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking the quashing of an FIR registered against them for allegedly spreading misinformation over the use of the Punjab chief minister's official helicopter.
According to the petitioners, the FIR stemmed from a social media post by Manik Goyal, a law student and RTI activist, who raised questions about the movement of a helicopter allotted to the CM on Dec 8, when the CM was on a visit to Japan. Goyal relied on publicly accessible flight-tracking data from an app (internet platform) and questioned who used the helicopter during the CM's absence.
The issue gained traction after journalists Baljinder Singh alias Mintu Gurusaria, Maninderjeet Singh, and Mandeep Singh Makkar reported on the matter and discussed the lack of official clarification regarding the helicopter's use. The petitioners maintained that their actions were part of legitimate journalistic inquiry and public-interest reporting.
The FIR was registered on a complaint by police inspector Satbir Singh, and did not cite any private complainant. While the FIR acknowledged the helicopter flew on the stated date and was used by a constitutional functionary, it did not disclose the identity of the person or the purpose of the flights.
In their plea, the petitioners argued that raising questions on the use of public resources and sharing publicly available information was protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. They alleged that the FIR was "mala fide" and intended to intimidate journalists and suppress dissent.
The petition also pointed to earlier RTI applications filed by Goyal in 2024 seeking details of govt expenditure on aircraft, which were denied citing security exemptions. Despite appeals, no information was furnished, prompting the reliance on open-source data, the plea stated. The matter is expected to be taken up before the high court next week. The petitioners also sought a stay on further proceedings during the pendency of the case.
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