The Bombay High Court recently quashed an FIR registered by Mumbai Police against owners of nearly 40 high-end and sports cars for violating prohibitory orders that restricted gathering or unlawful assembly of five or more persons on January 26.
The bench observed that the petitioner-owners of the cars did not indulge in an act of obstructing a public official or risking human life and the action against them was ‘abuse of process of law.’
A division bench of Justices Prakash D Naik and Nitin R Borkar passed an order in this regard earlier this month, a copy of which was made available on Monday.
The petitioners had challenged an FIR registered with Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) police for offences punishable under provisions of IPC and Maharashtra Police Act, 1951.
The police action against participants of the rally, organised by an event management company to mark Republic Day, came after the cars assembled at the Jio World Drive mall.
According to the prosecution, the Commissioner of Mumbai Police issued a prohibitory order against assembly of five or more persons between January 23 and February 6.
While patrolling the area under its jurisdiction at 5:30am on January 26, the official from BKC police station saw some people, along with their cars, had gathered at the Jio World Drive mall.
An organiser of the car rally told police that people gathered there had been conducting the rally for several years and on that day, they were to take out the rally from Jio World Drive BKC to Atal Setu Bridge (Mumbai Trans Harbour Link) and would return to Jio World Drive and disperse. However, police claimed the car owners did not have any requisite permission to carry out the rally.
The investigating agency seized nearly 40 high-end luxury cars and lodged an FIR against the owners of the vehicles. Aggrieved by the same, the owners approached Bombay High Court, which on February 1 directed the police to release the cars.
In its intemin order, the high court noted that the police had seized the vehicles even before registration of FIR and before the rally was flagged off. There was ‘no genuine explanation’ for the same, therefore seizure appeared ‘illegal and arbitrary,’ observed the high court.
On April 1, the bench allowed the pleas and observed that “there was no act causing any sort of obstruction, annoyance, or risk of it to any person lawfully employed; danger to human life, health or safety or a riot or affray.”
“Hence, it could be an abuse of process of law to proceed against the accused vide impugned FIR,” it added and set aside the FIR.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 23-04-2024 at 21:07 IST
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