Gujarat HC Dismisses Challenge Over FSL Test Of Disputed Allotment Letter, Says BNSS Appeal Is Available

In a pending civil suit, the petitioner applied before the Additional Senior Civil Judge, Gandhidham, seeking registration of an offence and referral of an allotment letter (Mark 139/4) for forensic examination.

The application was rejected on 2 September 2026.

The petitioner challenged that order under Article 227 of the Constitution, seeking, among other reliefs, forensic examination of the document and registration of an FIR.

The petitioner’s counsel stated that the application before the Trial Court had been made under Section 379 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), and accepted that an appeal under Section 380 BNSS was available.

Section 379 BNSS was identified as the provision under which the petitioner’s application had been filed, and Section 380 BNSS provides a statutory appeal against the relevant order.

Relying on Virudhunagar Hindu Nadargal Dharma Paribalana Sabai v. Tuticorin Educational Society, (2019) 9 SCC 538, and Mohamed Ali v. V. Jaya, (2022) 10 SCC 477, the Court applied the principle that Article 227 supervisory jurisdiction should not ordinarily be exercised where an efficacious statutory appellate remedy is available against an order of a Civil Court.

Although the petitioner argued that the Trial Court’s order was non-speaking and contained a manifest error, the Court did not assess that contention on its merits.

It considered that the petitioner’s application had been made under Section 379 BNSS and that an appeal under Section 380 BNSS was available.

Applying the cited Supreme Court decisions, the Court held that the petitioner should pursue that statutory remedy rather than seek intervention under Article 227.

The petition was dismissed in limine; the Court made no determination on the merits of the request for forensic examination or registration of an FIR.