The Bombay High Court has reiterated that peaceful protests against administrative apathy cannot be met with criminal prosecution in the absence of material establishing violence or unlawful obstruction, observing that treating democratic dissent as a criminal offence would strike at the foundations of democracy.
The Nagpur Bench of Justice MW Chandwani made the observations while quashing criminal proceedings against a 26-year-old man, Nishkarsh Kiran Nimgade, who was booked for participating in a protest over the poor condition of roads in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district.
The case arose from an incident on January 21, 2026, when a pickup vehicle overturned after hitting an electricity pole near Mauza Nandgaon, leaving several passengers injured. Following the accident, local residents assembled at the spot and demanded accountability from Public Works Department (PWD) officials and the contractor responsible for the road. The protesters allegedly placed a rope across the road, following which the police registered an FIR against Nimgade for wrongful restraint and unlawful assembly under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951.
Examining the charge-sheet, the High Court found that the prosecution had failed to produce statements from commuters to substantiate the allegation that traffic had actually been obstructed. It also noted that Nimgade’s name was introduced only after the police had dispersed the gathering.
The Court held that the mere presence of a large number of people protesting against the condition of a public road and demanding action against the officials concerned could not, by itself, lead to the conclusion that they had constituted an unlawful assembly.
Invoking Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to assemble peacefully and without arms, Justice Chandwani underscored that the distinction between constitutionally protected protest and criminal conduct must remain clear.
The Court cautioned that allowing criminal prosecution to become a response to peaceful civic demonstrations would blur the boundaries between the exercise of fundamental rights and the invocation of penal law. Such an approach, it observed, would mark a sad day for democracy.
Holding that the criminal proceedings amounted to an abuse of the process of law, the High Court exercised its powers under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to quash the FIR and the charge-sheet.
The matter was titled Nishkarsh Kiran Nimgade v. State of Maharashtra.
Advocates Purushottam Patil, NA Waghmare, Vinay Rathi and Yash Ghodichor appeared for the petitioner, while Additional Public Prosecutor HD Futane represented the State.
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