US Traveler Freed from India After Hiking Gadget Misunderstanding

A seemingly harmless piece of radio equipment reportedly emitted erroneous signals to the authorities, sparking a sequence of legal difficulties for Augustus Teran, a 25-year-old American citizen.

A software developer at Google and an enthusiastic hiker, he found himself caught in a legal upheaval regarding a “Garmin inReach Mini 2” device discovered in his hand luggage during a routine security check at Indira Gandhi International Airport on December 21, 2024.

Teran has consistently asserted that the gadget is intended for hikers to monitor their whereabouts during emergencies. However, an FIR was filed since possessing such radio apparatus without permission or a license was an infraction under the Telecommunications Act.

Responding to his petition, the Delhi High Court has permitted the petitioner to exit India at any point during the validity of his tourist visa. He was required to commit to being available for investigation whenever summoned through a written notice delivered via WhatsApp or email.

The issue was brought to the attention of the high court after the petitioner, through his attorneys Aditya Singla, Supriya Juneja, Ritwik Saha, and Umang Mishra, requested the annulment of the FIR dated December 22, 2024, filed under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, at the IGI airport police station in Delhi.

The court heard that the petitioner was stopped at the airport while preparing to board a flight to the US because he was carrying the device in his hand luggage. Presenting his case to the Bench, Singla contended that the petitioner, an avid hiker, had mistakenly left the device in his baggage following a recent hiking expedition in Colorado, US, in October 2024.

The counsel further noted that the petitioner arrived in India on December 14, 2024, on a tourist visa for a wedding event and was departing the country on December 21, 2024, when the device was identified in his hand luggage. Singla also submitted to the Bench a purchase receipt dated May 31, 2022, along with informational literature regarding its usage and a watch, asserting that the device was purchased legally in Massachusetts, US. The petitioner had previously employed it to pinpoint his location during remote treks in Osteria Mocenigo, Italy, on July 21, 2022, and in the Four Pass Loop in the US on August 13, 2022.