Gujarat HC: Malicious FIR Against Forest Officer Quashed As Personal Vengeance

The Gujarat High Court has shielded a young forest officer from a retaliatory criminal prosecution, ruling that FIRs instituted with a mala fide intent to wreak vengeance against public officials performing their duties constitute a gross abuse of the legal process. In a significant intervention, the Court identified the impugned proceedings as a clear 'counterblast' to the officer's prior actions against the complainant’s relatives for forest encroachment.

Justice P. M. Raval, presiding over the matter, examined a petition filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The petitioner, a 22-year-old lady forest officer, sought the quashing of an FIR lodged against her for alleged physical assault and criminal intimidation. The Court noted that the complainant, aged 40, had alleged the petitioner hit him with a stone during a petty roadside argument, yet the medical records and the timing of the complaint suggested a fabricated narrative aimed at settling personal scores.

Court Identifies Lack of Veracity in Prosecution Case

The Court observed that the petitioner had recently booked the complainant’s sister and brother-in-law under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and the Conservation of Forest Act, 1980 for damaging forest plantations and encroaching on protected land. It was noted that during the previous incident, the petitioner was even threatened with being roped into a false case. Justice Raval pointed out that while the FIR named the petitioner specifically, the Medico-Legal Case (MLC) certificate failed to name the assailant, referring only to 'someone'.

The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "The allegations seems to be highly improbable and the allegations made in the FIR are clearly with a view to spite the petitioner due to private and personal grudge of having lodged F.O.R. as well as FIR against the sister and brother-in-law of the present complainant, is nothing but a counterblast, having the petitioner booked, as stated hereinabove, under the provisions of Indian Forest Act as well as the provisions of Conservation of Forest Act."

The Court has the following directions:

"The FIR being C.R. No.I-25 of 2025, dated 26.03.2015, lodged before the Talala Police Station, Talala, District: Gir Somnath, and consequential proceeding arising therefrom are hereby quashed and set aside qua the present petitioner. Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent."

Background

The dispute originated from an incident on March 26, 2015, where the complainant alleged that the petitioner, a lady forest officer, used abusive language and assaulted him with a stone after a minor horn-honking incident at a dairy. The complainant sustained head injuries requiring stitches. However, the petitioner contended that the FIR was a malicious fabrication. Just two days prior, the petitioner had initiated legal action against the complainant's relatives for forest encroachment under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.

The petitioner argued that the FIR fell squarely within the categories defined in State of Haryana vs. Bhajanlal & Ors., specifically targeting proceedings initiated for personal vengeance. The State, represented by the Additional Public Prosecutor, pointed to the existence of an MLC certificate and eyewitnesses to oppose the quashing. The Court, however, found the allegations inherently improbable given the age difference, the petitioner's professional role, and the clear history of hostility stemming from the forest department's enforcement actions.

Case Details:
Case No.: R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 6158 of 2015
Neutral Citation: 2026:GUJHC:58038
Case Title: Madhuben Devayatbhai Karangiya Versus State Of Gujarat & Anr.
Appearances:
For the Petitioner(s): DR. ABHISST K THAKER
For the Respondent(s): MR. K. M. ANTANI, APP

Source: 2026 CaseBase(GUJ) 22617