Bombay HC quashes FIR against UK national for carrying satellite phone

The Bombay High Court has quashed an FIR and subsequent charge sheet filed against a United Kingdom citizen for carrying a satellite phoneThe HC said the offence was noncognizable in nature and hence the police could not have registered a case without permission of the magistrateA division bench of Justices Prithviraj Chavan and Revati Dere had on December 12 allowed the petition of Anderson Richard which was moved in 2021 through MZM LegalThe detailed order was made available on FridayRichards plea had claimed the FIR was not maintainable as the offences were noncognisable and the police had not taken permission from a magistrate as per provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPCAlso Read Antilia threat case Bombay HC grants bail to dismissed policeman Riyazuddin KaziHe was until November 2020 a senior executive of Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization a nonprofit company incorporated under the laws of Scotland and having its registered office in that countryAs per the petitioner he was carrying a satellite phone as per company protocol and it was to be switched off during his stay and was to be used only for emergency purposesHe claimed he had never used the satellite phone here but was detained at Mumbai International Airport in October 2018 under the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act and the Indian Telegraph Act while he was proceeding to leave the country after completion of trainingAn FIR was registered against him later Richards petition saidA perusal of the section 1552 of the CrPC would reveal when information relating to a noncognizable offence is received the police officer cannot commence with the investigation without securing an order from the concerned magistrate the HC saidThis had not been done the HC said adding the police could not have lodged an FIR or file a chargesheetIn fact the concerned magistrate ought to have perused the chargesheet and the sections applied before taking cognizance of it the HC bench observedThe petition is accordingly allowed and the FIR as well as proceedings pending before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate are quashed and set aside the High Court order saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever