BENGALURU: In a unique case, the Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed all further investigation in the suo motu First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Doddaballapur Rural police on the charges of criminal trespass in connection with a drone landing outside the leased area of the petitioner.
Justice M Nagaprasanna passed the interim order of stay till February 13, the next date of hearing, after hearing the petition filed by Newspace Research and Technologies Pvt Ltd, questioning the legality of the crime. The court also directed Inspector Sadiq Pasha to file an affidavit to the averments made in the petition, failing which, action will be taken.According to the petition, the petitioner is a company that manufactures drones for the Indian armed forces and has a licence for research and development (R&D) and for flying drones in the green zone in Doddaballapur.
On January 29, during a routine R&D testing, a lightweight research drone belonging to the petitioner suffered a battery malfunction and glided beyond the boundary of the leased land, landing in a neighbouring property. The drone could not be immediately located and was proposed to be searched for on the following day. On the same evening, a police constable, acting on information received through the 112 emergency helpline, visited the area and took the drone into his possession. Based on this, an FIR was registered suo moto against unknown persons.
The police inspector refused to furnish a copy of the FIR and insisted upon the physical presence of the Managing Director of the petitioner. In terms of the Drone Rules, the police have no jurisdiction to question, but only the Director General of Civil Aviation can question, the petitioner’s counsel told the court.