Karnataka high court quashes drone trespass case against Bengaluru firm

Bengaluru: Karnataka high court has quashed the investigation and proceedings against a city-based drone manufacturing and research firm over allegations of criminal trespass by its unmanned aerial vehicle.The case had been registered by Doddaballapur Rural police against Newspace Research and Technologies Private Limited in Jan. The firm claimed no copy of the FIR was served on it."The criminal justice system cannot be invoked on the basis of speculative or mechanical attribution of the ingredients of the crime — rash and negligent human act – to an inanimate object," Justice M Nagaprasanna observed in his recent order.The firm submitted that a lightweight prototype drone, weighing around 6kg, fell on a neighbouring land after a battery malfunction. If somebody operates a drone under an R&D licence in a green belt area and on their own premises, no one else except the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) can question it.On the other hand, police claimed that the FIR was registered to allay the apprehension in the public over the falling of the drone. The court was also told that an FIR copy was available on the website of the police department.Justice Nagaprasanna pointed out that none of the ingredients of criminal trespass and an act endangering life or personal safety of others was made out, even prima facie.The law declared by the Supreme Court unequivocally mandates that an accused is entitled to obtain a copy of the FIR without undue delay. Mere assertion that the FIR is uploaded online cannot be a substitute for compliance with the obligation, the judge added.It is imperative that all police stations scrupulously adhere to the mandate of furnishing copies of FIRs or furnishing their complete details if they are online. Any deviation in this regard by the police stations would be viewed seriously, and those station house officers or the officers in charge of the police station who do not follow this would face initiation of departmental inquiry against them, Justice Nagaprasanna observed.
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