Gujarat High Court Acquits Businessman Sentenced By NIA Court In 2019 To Life Imprisonment Under Anti-Hijacking Law

The Gujarat High Court today acquitted Mumbai-based businessman Birju Kishor Salla, who was convicted by the NIA Court in 2019 under the amended Anti-Hijacking Act 2016 and was sentenced to life imprisonment for the remainder of his life.

Significantly, the bench of Justice AS Supehia and Justice MR Mengedey quashed the NIA court's June 2019 verdict wherein the trial court had also imposed a fine of Rs. 5 Crores. The division bench directed that the fine, if paid, be refunded to the appellant.

"The crew members are also directed to refund the amount of compensation in case the same is paid as per the directions of the Trial Court. In the alternative, the State is directed to pay the amount which is paid to the crew members, and it will be open for the State to recover such amount from the crew members," the Court directed. 

The HC has further directed that the properties which are seized by the Investigation Officer, and ordered to be confiscated under the provisions of section 19 of the Act, by the Trial Court shall be released forthwith.

Salla, who was earlier found guilty of planting a hijack threat letter in the Jet Airways Aircraft's lavatory (Mumbai-Delhi flight) in 2017 purportedly in an attempt to persuade his girlfriend, who worked in Delhi with Jet Airways, to return to him in Mumbai. The note in question had led to the emergency landing of the flight in Ahmedabad, instead of Delhi.

The hijack-threat letter stated that certain hijackers were sitting on the aircraft and that the flight would be flown to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and if any attempts were made to land the aircraft, it would lead to the death of people on board. The letter also mentioned that a bomb had been planted in the cargo area.

It was NIA's case that Salla had hoped that the note would force Jet Airways to close its Delhi operations, thereby forcing his Girlfriend to come back to Mumbai.

The NIA Court had convicted the accused under sections 3(1), 3(2)(a) and 4(b) of the Anti Hijacking Act 2016 and sentenced him to life imprisonment along with a fine of Rupees 5 Crore, out of which, each pilot was to get compensation of Rs. one lakh, each air hostess was to get Rs. 50,000 and each passenger was to be paid Rs. 25,000 for misery undergone by them.

Challenging the conviction, Salla moved the HC in 2019.

In its order, which is yet to be made public, the Division bench found that evidence adduced by the prosecuting agency was "tainted with doubt" and hence, it differed with the view taken by the Trial Court. 

However, the Court, in its order did note that the impact of the threat had to be visualised and realised at the time when the note was found and read and not thereafter when the same was found to be a hoax. The Court stressed that the reaction to the threat to an individual at a high altitude will have an alarming and horrifying effect and the same can't be assessed. 

"Merely because a threat is subsequently found to be a hoax, it can't wipe out its effect at the time when such threat was issued or as in the present case, such threat was detected from the note found in the lavatory of the aircraft."

The Court also held that there was "seizure and control of the aircraft" due to a "credible" threat arising of the threat note.

It may be noted that the Anti-Hijacking Act of 2016 was passed to give effect to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, 1970 and its Protocol Supplementary, signed on September 10, 2010. While in terms of quantum of sentence, the Convention only talks about imposing of 'severe penalties'. However, other jurisdictions such as the USA and the UK have also stipulated life imprisonment as an appropriate punishment for the act of hijacking of an aircraft, and the same is reflected in Indian law.

Case title - BIRJU SALLA @ AMAR SONI S/O KISHOR SALLA vs. STATE OF GUJARAT and Another

Case Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Guj) 131

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