IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CR. WJC No.914 of 2007 BRAJ MOHAN PRASAD, son of Late-Trakeshwar Prasad, Resident of Mohalla-New Colony, Belwar Ganj, P.S.-Alamganj, District-Patna. ……..Petitioner Versus 1. The State Of Bihar 2. The Director, T.B. Demonstration and Training Centre, Agamkuan, Patna-7. …….Respondents ----------- 07. 06.10.2009 The petitioner has come to this Court for quashing his prosecution as initiated on basis of First Information Report bearing Alamganj P.S. Case No. 262 of 2007 instituted under Sections 409, 467, 468, 471, 420/34 of the Indian Penal Code. The short point raised is that the said prosecution is violative of Article 20(2) of the Constitution. It is submitted that for the identically same allegation earlier Alamganj P.S. Case No. 153 of 2000 had been instituted. This, it is submitted is admitted case. The State has filed counter affidavit. In the counter affidavit, it is stated that the two F.I.R.s are for different amounts. With consent of parties, this writ application has been heard for disposal at this stage itself. In the first case that was instituted and is pending i.e. Alamganj P.S. Case No. 153 of 2000, the allegation against the petitioner who is one of the accused persons is of defalcation of money while he was in service. It appears that once the case was instituted the Account General took up the 2 audit work in relation to T.B. Demonstration and Training Centre, Agamkuan, Gulzarbagh, Patna and submitted a report. The report is annexed as Annexure-2 to this writ application. Paragraph 11 of the said report deals with the case of petitioner. In that paragraph of the audit report itself, it has been noted that there had been defalcation by the petitioner and on being asked by the auditor they were told that a case has already been instituted in that regards. The auditors were concerned as to how after the said case was instituted in the year 2000 the retirement dues of petitioner was settled without making any recovery. In the audit report auditors were critical of merely lodging F.I.R. based solely on this observation in the audit report as contained in paragraph 11 thereof. The present F.I.R. being Alamganj P.S. Case No. 262 of 2007 has been instituted in which all that has been said in respect of petitioner is that he stands indicted in Paragraph 11 of the audit report and hence the F.I.R. In this F.I.R. there are various independent allegations against various other Officers/Officials of various other amounts with which petitioner is not concerned nor petitioner is clubbed with them but as it relates to various acts of commission and omission at different times of different Officers in the same organization, one composite F.I.R. has been lodged now. If this is seen then it would be clear that for the same allegation merely because auditors have adversely commented, now the 3 second F.I.R. has been lodged. In my view, firstly the law is that there can not be two First Information Reports of the same occurrence. The expression First Information itself clarifies the position subsequent would at best be a statement in terms of Section 161 of the Cr. P.C. It can not be a fresh F.I.R. Secondly and more importantly is the provision of Article 20 sub-article 2 of the Constitution which is quoted hereunder. “No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once” In my view, Article 20(2) of the Constitution prohibits prosecution a second time for the same offence. Here there is absolutely nothing new in the second F.I.R. which is mere repetition of the allegation as contained in the first F.I.R. and as apparent from the second F.I.R. itself it is being lodged because of the audit report. The audit report itself refers to the fact that for the said occurrence already an F.I.R. has been instituted. Thus on the face of it, so far petitioner is concerned, the present case i.e. Alamganj P.S. Case No. 262 of 2007 is unconstitutional and invalidly instituted. It is held so accordingly. The writ application is accordingly allowed. Shageer (Navaniti Prasad Singh, J)