Gujarat: HC quashes FIR against forest beat guards accused of assault

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court has quashed an FIR against two forest beat guards who were accused of assaulting a man while preventing his entry into the restricted area of Sasan Gir sanctuary, considering their action as conducted in good faith in furtherance of their duty.In Jan 2017, two beat guards — Pravinbhai Vala and Arvind Piprotar — were accused of assault and criminal intimidation by one Kumar Vala, who was allegedly trying to enter the prohibited Endhasiya area without authorization. The FIR was filed with the Mendarda police station in Junagadh district after there was a quarrel resulting in an alleged assault on a private person. The beat guards also filed an FIR against the private person, but he was acquitted later. They also filed a forest offence under the Wildlife (Protection) Act in Nov 2017 over the unauthorised entry into the forest area. The beat guards approached the HC for quashing of the FIR registered against them and contended that forest officials, as public servants, are protected under Section 60 of the Forest Act, and that they were falsely implicated in the FIR. Allowing their plea, Justice M K Thakker said the legal provisions grant protection for actions taken in good faith by employees of the state or central government. The court found that the allegations under IPC Sections 323 and 324, relating to voluntarily causing hurt, were not supported by the material collected during the investigation.After the hearing, the court quashed the FIR against the beat guards, and stated, "Though the investigation was permitted to continue for a considerable period, the material on record does not indicate any medical certificate evidencing that the complainant sustained any bodily injury. Furthermore, there is no material to suggest the commission of the offence of criminal intimidation as defined under Section 503 of the Indian Penal Code."