STATE OF JHARKHAND Vs. NISHKANT DUBEY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Present appeals have been filed challenging the judgment and order dtd. 13/3/2023 passed by the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi allowing the writ petitions filed by the Respondents herein and quashing the First Information Report ('FIR') being Deoghar Kunda P.S. Case No.169 of 2022 registered against the Respondents-accused persons for commission of alleged offences under Ss. 336, 447 and 448 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 ('IPC') and Ss. 10 and 11A of the Aircraft Act, 1934 holding that the FIR is vitiated by mala fides and allowing the proceedings to continue would amount to abuse of law. The High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi while quashing the FIR has held as under:-

(2.) The facts, as mentioned in the FIR, are that on 31/8/2022 at 17:25 hours, the Respondents-accused persons boarded a chartered plane to travel from Deoghar Airport. After some time, the door of the plane opened and the pilot came down and moved towards the Air Traffic Control ('ATC') room as the Air Traffic Controller had denied permission for take-off. Learned counsel for Appellant- State of Jharkhand stated that the first informant who was Security-in-charge in Deoghar Airport followed the pilot and when he entered the ATC room, he saw that the pilot was creating pressure for giving Respondents-accused persons clearance for take-off at the earliest. Thereafter, the other Respondents-accused persons also barged into the ATC room and created pressure for the clearance to be given to them. According to the learned counsel for the Appellant-State of Jharkhand, pursuant to the pressure exerted by the Respondents-accused persons, the ATC clearance was given and the chartered flight took-off at 18:17 hours even when the sunset time on that day was 18:03 hours.

(3.) Learned counsel for the Appellant-State of Jharkhand stated that the ATC room is a restricted area and the Respondents-accused persons forcefully trespassed and entered the ATC room which was a serious security breach and the Respondents-accused persons threatened the ATC officers and coerced them to give permission for take-off. He stated that the ATC had denied clearance/permission to chartered flight to take-off from Deoghar Airport due to low visibility and bad weather conditions. He pointed out that the Deoghar Airport does not have the facility of night operation. He stated that by forcefully obtaining the ATC clearance by threatening and creating pressure on the ATC officers, the chartered flight with the Respondents-accused persons on board, took-off at 18:17 hours i.e., after sunset.