The Supreme Court ruled that a second FIR is valid in certain cases, like exposing a bigger conspiracy. This decision came in a corruption case involving Rajasthan’s Bio-Fuel Authority.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India gave important rules on Wednesday about when a second First Information Report (FIR) can be registered for the same incident or similar situation.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra laid down five conditions when a second FIR can be filed:
- If the second FIR is a counter-complaint or gives a different version of the same event for which an earlier FIR has already been registered.
- If the second FIR covers a broader or different aspect of the case, even if it comes from the same incident.
- If the investigation finds that the first FIR is only a small part of a bigger conspiracy.
- If new facts or details come up during the investigation that were not known earlier.
- If there are two separate incidents, even if the offences are similar or different.
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The case before the Supreme Court was about Surendra Singh Rathore, Chief Executive Officer-cum-Project Director of Rajasthan’s Bio-Fuel Authority. He was accused of demanding a bribe of Rs 2 per litre for the sale of bio-diesel.
This added up to Rs 15 lakh per month, along with Rs 5 lakh more for renewing the license of the complainant.
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The first Later, a second First Information Report was filed on April 14, 2022, based on complaints from Shyam Prakash, a constable in the Anti-Corruption Bureau. He alleged that between September 30, 2021, and April 12, 2022, Rathore was taking bribes to give licenses for running bio-fuel pumps.
was numbered as 123 of 2022 under Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. This FIR was about an alleged bribe demand on April 4, 2022.
Later, a second First Information Report was filed on April 14, 2022, based on complaints from Shyam Prakash, a constable in the Anti-Corruption Bureau. He alleged that between September 30, 2021, and April 12, 2022, Rathore was taking bribes to give licenses for running bio-fuel pumps.
The Rajasthan High Court said that the second FIR was an “abuse of the process of law.” The court also noted that legal permission was necessary before taking action against Rathore. Since this permission was not taken, the First Information Report could not be investigated.
Because of this, the High Court used its powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and canceled the second First Information Report.
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However, the Rajasthan government challenged this decision in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Rajasthan government, saying that the second First Information Report covered a larger issue of “widespread corruption” in the department and was much broader than the first FIR.
“Quashing of the FIR would nip the investigation into such corruption, in the bud. The same would be against the interest of society,”
-the Court held.
The Rajasthan government was represented by Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal Sharma and Advocates Saubhagya Sundriyal, Rustam Singh Chauhan, and Nidhi Jaswal.
On the other hand, Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, along with Advocates Anand Varma, Ayush Gupta, and Ranga Sharan, represented Surendra Singh Rathore.
CASE TITLE:
State of Rajasthan vs Surendra Singh Rathore
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