Atul Bokriya And 5 Ors Vs State of Nagaland (Gauhati High Court)
Summary: The petition was filed before the Gauhati High Court under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 read with Article 227 of the Constitution of India seeking quashing of an FIR and consequential criminal proceedings in connection with Kohima North Police Station Case No. 09/2023 dated 13.03.2023. The FIR was registered under Sections 120B, 417, 464, 465, 499, 34, 420, 500, 467 and 468 of the Indian Penal Code along with provisions of the Lotteries Regulation Act, 1998.
The FIR originated from a written complaint submitted by the then Director of the Nagaland Lotteries Department, based on which the police registered the case. The petitioners argued that similar FIRs had already been filed earlier in Kolkata, West Bengal, on the same facts and allegations. One such FIR lodged at Bidhannagar Police Station had already resulted in the petitioners being discharged by an order dated 22.11.2023 passed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bidhannagar. Another FIR dated 27.06.2022 had also been registered at Hare Street Police Station, Kolkata, where investigation was ongoing and no charge sheet had yet been filed.
The petitioners contended that the Kohima FIR amounted to malicious prosecution intended to harass them. According to them, they had no professional or personal relationship with the complainant and the FIR was filed as retaliation for complaints submitted by the petitioners to various government agencies regarding alleged malpractices and GST evasion in the lottery trade. The petitioners also argued that the alleged offences occurred within the jurisdiction of Kolkata and that they were residents of Delhi who had never conducted business in Kohima, Nagaland.
