GUJARAT HC QUASHES STATE'S FIRST FIR FILED UNDER 'ANTI-LOVE JIHAD' LAW

Needless to say, the Bench then points out in para 2 of this remarkable judgment that, “Heard learned advocate for the applicants and Mr. R. P. Patel, learned advocate for the respondent No.2 – complainant. Mr. R. P.”

- SANJEEV SIROHI

It must be mentioned right at the start that the Gujarat High Court in a learned, laudable, landmark and latest oral judgment titled Samir @ Sem s/o Abdulbhai Qureshi Versus State of Gujarat in R/ Criminal Misc. Application No. 18325 of 2022 that was pronounced just recently on October 14, 2022 has quashed and set aside the first FIR that was registered by the Gujarat Police and filed under the amended Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act known as ‘anti-love jihad’ law last year. This happened so after the husband and the wife settled the matter amicably among themselves. A consensual quashing petition was moved by the six ‘accused’ in an FIR that was lodged at Gotri police station in Vadodara in June 2021.

At the very outset, this brief, brilliant, bold and balanced judgment authored by the Single Judge Bench of Hon’ble Mr Justice Niral R Mehta of Gujarat High Court sets the ball in motion by first and foremost putting forth in para 1 that, “By way of this application under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as “the Code”), the applicants have prayed for quashing and setting aside F.I.R. bearing C.R. No.11196004210480 of 2021 registered with Gotri Police Station, Vadodara city for the offences punishable under Sections 498A, 376(2) (n), 377, 312, 313, 504, 506(2), 323, 419 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 4, 4(A), 4(2) (A), 4(2)(B) and 5 of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021 and Sections 3(1)(r)(s), 3(2) (5), 3(2)(5-a), 3(1)(w)(1)(2) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and to quash all other consequential proceedings arising out of the aforesaid FIR qua the applicants.”