‘Forest fire a natural cause’, SC Quashes FIR over Death of 13 People during Trekking in TN

A bench of the Supreme Court said that no negligence could have been attributed to the appellant Peter Van Geit herein who only facilitated the organization of the trekking expedition. As many as 13 people died in the 2018 forest fire during a trekking expedition to Kurangani hills in Tamil Nadu.

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

A bench comprising justices B V Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih said: “We fail to understand as to how these sections could have been invoked against the appellant herein inasmuch as admittedly the persons who were part of the trekking expedition died owing to a forest fire which is an instance of vis major”.

The bench said no negligence could have been attributed to the appellant Peter Van Geit herein who only facilitated the organization of the trekking expedition.

The bench said as already noted, the organizers as well as the appellant herein and even the members of the trekking expedition were totally unaware of the forest fire as such. 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, said the bench, in its order delivered on January 23.

“The appellant herein had no role whatsoever in causing the death of the trekkers who died due to a forest fire which is a natural cause. On that short ground alone, we find that the invocation of Sections 304 A and 338 IPC as against the appellant herein was wholly unwarranted”, said the bench.

Section 304-A of the IPC deals with causing death by negligence and Section 338 is related to causing grievous hurt by an act endangering life or personal safety of others.

It added that the high court ought to have quashed the FIR, the charge sheet as well as proceedings in the matter. “In the circumstances, the order dated 30.08.2022 passed by the High Court is set aside. The F.I.R……and proceedings initiated against the appellant in…..2019 are quashed”, said the bench.

Geit’s counsel contended before the apex court that there was no negligence on the part of his client and the death of the trekkers in the unfortunate accident was owing to a vis major inasmuch as the trekkers died in the forest fire which engulfed the area of the expedition on the fateful day.

The apex court passed the order while hearing Geit’s appeal against the August 20, 2022 verdict of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, which refused to quash the FIR and proceedings against him.

The high court had dismissed the criminal original petition and considering the fact that the appellant is a Belgian citizen and has been running a nonprofit organization, his personal appearance in the criminal trial court was dispensed with.

“The incident of fire that happened on March 11, 2018, had resulted in the loss of 13 lives and others being injured owing to the said persons who were part of the trekking expedition being trapped by the forest fire and being unable to escape from the forest fire which had engulfed the trekkers all around”, noted the apex court, in its order.

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