Chandigarh, Nov 15 (PTI) A criminal contempt petition has been filed before the Haryana advocate general against Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu for his alleged "irresponsible" tweets in connection with a drug case.

The petition was moved by Parampreet Singh Bajwa, an advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

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The Haryana AG will conduct a preliminary hearing in the matter on Tuesday.

The AG after finding the veracity of the allegation will see whether the prima facie case can be made and if it can be made, then a report will be submitted to the High Court for further action, said Bajwa.

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The petition was filed before the Haryana AG as the position of the Punjab AG is vacant at present following the acceptance of the resignation of senior advocate A P S Deol.

The petitioner submitted that he was filing the contempt petition against the respondent on account of repeated publications on his Twitter account which amount to criminal contempt.

He further submitted that he was deeply concerned about the "repeated and irresponsible scurrilous attacks on judiciary".

The petitioner through his counsel stated that the publications are advance publications about a sensitive matter related to the drug menace.

The respondent has made a publication/advance publication in the form of his tweets about the same subject that is already pending before Punjab and Haryana High Court, and even published his conclusion in the matter about certain persons, according to the petition.

"These publications are actuated by malice and are intended to interfere with the administration of justice," said the petition.

The petitioner also attached some of Sidhu's tweets with his plea.

According to the petition, Sidhu had over nine lakh followers on his Twitter handle. "The respondent occupies a position of great power and there would inevitably be many people who would believe the publications of the respondent to be true. The tweets are likely to create and influence public opinion in the matter," it said.

It further stated that the respondent was not even a party to the said proceedings, yet he was using his current position to create and influence public opinion, which shows that his publications are not bonafide.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)