The Karnataka High Court recently quashed a criminal case registered against Dr P Gowri Shankar of Kalinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology (KCRE), who was accused of capturing a king cobra and allowing its photographs to be taken and shared on social media.

The Court observed that photographs showing a king cobra in an open forest, without evidence that it was captured or kept in captivity, were insufficient to establish the offences alleged under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

A single-judge bench of Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde allowed Gowri Shankar's petition challenging the criminal proceedings initiated against him under Sections 2(1)(16), 9, 50, 51, 55 and 57 of the Act.

The case arose from a complaint lodged on September 26, 2025, by the Range Forest Officer, Agumbe Range, in Shivamogga district. It was alleged that Gowri Shankar had captured a king cobra, photographed it while in captivity and allowed others to take its photographs.

Advocate Akshay Swamy, appearing for Gowri Shankar, submitted that the chargesheet did not disclose any material establishing that the petitioner had hunted or illegally captured the king cobra.

He argued that the photographs relied upon by the prosecution showed the snake in an open forest and not in captivity.

The Court was informed that Gowri Shankar had been called upon on several occasions to rescue king cobras and other snakes that had entered residential premises. Whenever he rescued snakes, he reported the same to the jurisdictional forest officials, who issued acknowledgments.

It was further submitted that the complaint was based on a social media video uploaded by a third person. During the investigation, no king cobra was recovered from Gowri Shankar's custody, and the authorities had recovered only a snake rescue bag and a rescue hook.

Opposing the petition, Additional State Public Prosecutor M.V. Anoop Kumar submitted that the chargesheet materials indicated that Gowri Shankar had allowed others to photograph the king cobra and had caused the photographs and videos to be uploaded on social media, thereby attracting offences under the Wildlife Protection Act.

After examining the material on record, the High Court noted that the prosecution had neither alleged that Gowri Shankar kept the king cobra in captivity nor that he killed or injured it. It was also not alleged that he personally uploaded the photographs.

The Court found that the State had failed to substantiate the allegation that Gowri Shankar had actually captured the snake.

"What is seen from the photographs produced along with the charge sheet is that the king cobra was found in the forest in an open space and it was not kept in captivity," the Court observed.

It further noted that the photographs had been published on social media but were not recovered from the petitioner.

The Court also took into account the material showing that Gowri Shankar had repeatedly informed the jurisdictional forest officials about king cobras rescued by him.

"It is also noticed from the charge sheet materials that on umpteen occasions, the petitioner has reported to the jurisdictional forest officers about the king cobras he has rescued," the Court observed.

In these circumstances, the High Court concluded that the allegations and material on record did not establish the offences alleged against Gowri Shankar.

"That being the position, the Court cannot take a view that the petitioner has committed any of the offences as alleged in the complaint," the Court held.

Accordingly, the Court allowed the petition and quashed the criminal proceedings pending against Gowri Shankar before the Magistrate Court.