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The Hindu
The Hindu
National
PTI

2018 Kurangani forest fire: SC quashes FIR, proceedings against Belgian national

The Supreme Court has quashed the FIR and legal proceedings initiated against a Belgian national over the death of 13 people in a forest fire during a trekking expedition to Kurangani hills in Tamil Nadu in March 2018.

The apex court noted that appellant Peter Van Geit, being the head of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), was in-charge of facilitating those interested in trekking and had no role whatsoever in causing the deaths that occurred due to the forest fire.

A Bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and A.G. Masih passed the order while hearing Geit’s appeal against the August 20, 2022 verdict of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that had refused to quash the FIR and proceedings against him.

The Bench, after perusing the FIR and the charge sheet, noted the charges against him were under sections 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC.

“We fail to understand how these sections could have been invoked against the appellant [Geit] herein inasmuch as admittedly the persons who were part of the trekking expedition died owing to a forest fire that is an instance of vis major [a Latin phrase meaning superior force or act of God],” the apex court said.

“No negligence could have been attributed to the appellant herein, who only facilitated the organisation of the trekking expedition,” the Bench said in its order passed on January 23.

The Bench said that the organisers, the appellant and even the members of the trekking expedition were totally unaware of the blaze. “Accidentally, they were engulfed in the forest fire and they died by sheer accident and not owing to any negligence or any criminal intent attributable to the appellant herein,” it said. The Bench said the invocation of sections 304-A and 338 of the IPC against the appellant was wholly unwarranted and the High Court ought to have quashed the FIR, charge sheet as well as the proceedings.

“In the circumstances, the order dated August 30, 2022 passed by the High Court is set aside,” the top court said, quashing the FIR and the proceedings initiated against Geit.

It noted the high court had dismissed his plea, and considering the fact that he was a Belgian citizen and has been running a non-profit organisation, his personal appearance in the trial court was dispensed with.

The appellant’s counsel had told the apex court that his role was limited to facilitating the trekking expedition, and that there was no negligence on his part.

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