Overview
- A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra set aside several FIRs against SHUATS vice-chancellor Rajendra Bihari Lal and colleagues, citing legal infirmities, repetitive complaints, and investigations that lacked credibility.
- FIR 224/2022 was quashed as it was filed by a person not competent under the then-unamended Section 4 of the UP law, while FIRs 55/2023 and 60/2023 were struck down as impermissible repeat cases under the T.T. Antony principle.
- FIR 54/2023 was nullified for want of bona fides in the inquiry, and the Court affirmed that Article 32 petitions to quash FIRs are maintainable in exceptional rights‑violation scenarios; interim protection from arrest continues.
- One case, FIR 538/2023, was detagged for separate consideration limited to alleged IPC offences under Sections 307, 386 and 504, with the Court clarifying that no offence under the UP conversion statute was made out there.
- The Court cautioned that the Act’s pre‑ and post‑conversion procedures may intrude on privacy and proportionality, noted that wider constitutional challenges remain pending, and recorded the Attorney General’s submission about seized Aadhaar‑related equipment.