A Division Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi while setting aside the prosecution of the appellant, one Abinash Dixit, observed that a mere passivity and insouciance will not tantamount to offence of abetment.
The accused-appellant (a Senior Engineer with Spring Energy Private Limited) was alleged to have facilitated the visit by the two Chinese citizens who were on tourist visas to Rewa Solar Plant Project.
Subsequently, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered for violation of Section 7 and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act.The Supreme Court recently recently held that no person shall be said to have committed an offence of abetment under Section 14C of the Foreigners Act 1946, if he was not aware about the visa status of the foreigners in Abinash Dixit v. State of Madhya Pradesh.‘Abet’ means to aid, to encourage or countenance. An abetment of the offence occurs when a person instigates any person to do that offence or engages with another person(s) in doing that thing. Mere passivity and insouciance will not tantamount to offence of abetment," the Court observed.