The Patna High Court has quashed an FIR lodged against political strategist Prashant Kishor in a case alleging theft of political campaign data and intellectual property linked to the “Bihar Ki Baat” campaign, holding that the criminal prosecution was not legally sustainable.
Justice Sandeep Kumar was hearing a criminal writ petition seeking quashing of an FIR registered at Patliputra Police Station under Sections 467, 468, 471, 420, 406, and 120B of the IPC. The complaint alleged that campaign data, designs, and intellectual property created for a Bihar election initiative were stolen by an associate and later used by Kishor for launching the “Baat Bihar Ki” campaign.
The Petitioner argued that the allegations were politically motivated and intended to tarnish his image ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections. It was contended that the alleged ‘intellectual property’ consisted largely of publicly available government data and that no exclusive copyright, trademark, or patent rights had been established by the complainant.
The plea further argued that offences relating to forgery, cheating, and criminal breach of trust had been mechanically invoked despite the allegations not satisfying the legal ingredients of those offences. It was also submitted that disputes concerning intellectual property rights are governed by special statutory frameworks and could not be converted into a criminal prosecution absent a clear legal basis.
Allowing the petition, the High Court set aside the FIR and the criminal proceedings arising from it, bringing an end to the prosecution against the petitioner in the six-year-old dispute
Appearances:
For the Petitioner : Ms. Eashita Raj, Advocate; Mr. Anuj Kumar, Advocate
For the State : Mr. M. Nasrul Huda Khan, S.C.-1; Mr. Harun Quareshi, A.C. to S.C.-1
For the Respondent No.6 : Ms. Sangeet Deokuliar, Advocate; Mr. Akhilesh Kumar, Advocate
