Rajasthan High Court quashes criminal case against former Governor Kamla Beniwal

The Rajasthan High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against the late Kamla Beniwal, former Governor of Gujarat, and 16 others regarding alleged irregularities in government land allotment and compensation.

A bench led by Justice Ganesh Ram Meena ruled that the dispute, which involves lease, ownership, and khatedari rights over agricultural land, should be handled by civil and revenue authorities rather than through criminal law. The court stated that attempting to give criminal character to such land rights disputes constitutes an abuse of the legal process.

The court set aside previous orders from the trial court and the Additional District Judge. It noted that several legal matters regarding the land are already pending, including questions of tenancy rights from 1958, land acquisition by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), and compensation distribution under the Land Revenue Act. The bench emphasized that allegations of fraud or forgery cannot be sustained in criminal proceedings until competent civil or revenue courts invalidate the rights in question.