Mumbai: Bombay HC quashes FIR, says messages sent to IAS officer against tree cutting at Aarey not offensive

Sending messages to an IAS officer to save trees at Aarey Milk Colony, the green lung of the city, is not an offence by “an assertion of a democratic right of citizen of this country to put forth his view point, to object, to protest, to persuade, to urge, and so on,” said the Bombay High Court. 

A bench of Justices SB Shukre and Milind Sathaye quashed an FIR against Avijit Michael, who was booked for sending messages to Ashwini Bhide in 2018, who was at the relevant time working as Managing Director of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) which was then engaged in construction of a car-shed in the land belonging to Aarey Milk Colony. 

Jan 2018 FIr at Bandra PS

In January 2018, an FIR was registered against Bengaluru-resident Michael by Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) police station for allegedly sending offensive messages to Bhide and for allegedly obstructing her from discharging her public duties. 

Quashing the FIR on April 5, the HC said registering a FIR for such an offence would amount to an invasion on the rights of citizens of this country. The judges also noted that the intention of the sender of these messages appears to be to protect the forest, which he considers to be acting like lungs for Mumbai. “These messages do not contain any offensive material or any obscenities. Rather, they appear to have been sent in assertion of a democratic right of a citizen of this country to put forth his view point, to object, to protest, to persuade, to urge, and so on,” the judges said. 

The judges also said that registering such an offence against anyone may amount to an invasion upon the rights of the citizens of this country. The police upon receiving such a complaint, “howsoever high he or she may be in position”, must never book any ordinary citizen of the country under criminal law. “... and if it does, it would be like suppressing his voice against what he considers to be a wrongful thing,” the judges added. 

HC cautions IO: Be careful in future

Cautioning the investigating officer, the HC said that he should be careful in future. “The investigating officer, who registered the crime against the petitioner, is hereby cautioned to be careful in registering crimes in such matters in future,” it said. 

Interestingly, the judges said that the allegation in the FIR, if taken at their face value, do not constitute the offence punishable under section 186 (obstructing a public servant in discharging their public duties) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the provisions of the Information Technology Act for sending offensive messages.

The court also said that the public officer, who was allegedly obstructed from discharging his/her public functions, should voluntarily come forward and allege the obstruction. The judges remarked that the FIR was lodged by a city resident and not Bhide herself. 

Also, the messages sent to Bhide do not show that the sender had intended to obstruct her from discharging her public duties. “These messages show at their face-value that the sender of the messages was the person who had intention to make efforts for preservation of the trees in the larger interest of society,” avered the judges.

The messages stated that Aarey was green lung for the city just as Cubbon Park is for Bengaluru and pleaded Bhide to look for alternatives so that the trees can be saved. The messages clearly showed Michael had “acted in a bona fide manner, on the basis of what he believed to be an act which was necessary for maintaining the health of the city of Mumbai”.