IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Cr.Misc. No.44469 of 2007 1. SHANKAR SINGH 2. CHANDAN SINGH 3. ANIL SINGH Versus STATE OF BIHAR ----------- 02/ 16-01-2009 Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and the State. The petitioners submit that for an alleged occurrence dated 12.04.2001 an F.I.R. came to be lodged at 23.00 hours by one Suresh Bhagat in which he described an occurrence in detail and named 42 accused persons registered as Rupauli (Mohanpur) P.S. Case No. 29 of 2001 on 12.04.2001. The accusation contained detailed description of the manner in which the 42 persons acted with specific attribution to some of them named including the petitioners, accompanied by certain other unnamed. On the same day after getting information about the same alleged occurrence the Police Officer visited the village when one person Shankar Paswan was apprehended who is also a named accused in Rupauli (Mohanpur) P.S. Case No. 29/2001. He is alleged to have disclosed the name of petitioner no. 3 who is also already accused in Rupauli (Mohanpur) P.S. Case No. 29/2001. Another F.I.R. Rupauli (Mohanpur) P.S. Case No. 30/2001 came to be lodged by the Sub-Inspector of Police for the same occurrence on 12.04.2001 against the two named and others unknown. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that there cannot be two First Information Reports for the same occurrence as that would amount to abuse of process of Court. - 2 - This Court finds that the First Information Report No. 29 of 2001 adequately refers to the assault by the accused upon the Police which came to the village. The Second First Information Report only deals with the issue of the assault upon the Police i.e. an aspect to be appropriately investigated and tried on the basis of earlier First Information Report as there are already specific allegations thereunder in the earlier First Information Report including that co-accused Shankar Paswan was caught on the spot. In 2001(6) SCC 181 (T.T. ANTONY V. STATE OF KERALA AND OTHERS), two F.I.Rs. were registered as Crimes Nos. 353/1994 and 354/1994 with regard to an occurrence on the same date in the proximity of the town hall and the vicinity of the Police Station. Another F.I.R. was then registered as Crime No. 268/1997 against the some of the prosecution party and the officials, who investigated the aforesaid two crimes. Prayer was made to quash the F.I.R. in Crime No. 268/1997. The Supreme Court on discussion of the scheme of the Code of criminal Procedure commencing from institution of an F.I.R. U/s 154 Cr.P.C. through the formation of an opinion U/s 169 or 170 Cr.P.C. and the forwarding of a Police Report under 173 Cr.P.C. held as follows:- “From the above discussion it follows that under the scheme of the provisions of Sections 154, 155, 156, 157, 162, 169, 170 and 173 CrPC only the earliest or the first information in regard to the commission of a cognizable offence satisfies the requirements of Section 154 CrPC. Thus there can be no second FIR and consequently there can be - 3 - no fresh investigation on receipt of every subsequent information in respect of the same cognizable offence or the same occurrence or incident giving rise to one or more cognizable offences. On receipt of information about a cognizable offence or an incident giving rise to a cognizable offence or offences and on entering the FIR in the station house diary, the officer in charge of a police station has to investigate not merely the cognizable offence reported in the FIR but also other connected offences found to have been committed in the course of the same transaction or the same occurrence and file one or more reports as provided in Section 173 CrPC”. In that view of the matter, this Court is satisfied that Rupauli (Mohanpur) P.S. Case No. 30/2001 is not justified and is held to be not maintainable. The Proceedings thereunder are hereby quashed. The entire matter including the trial shall, therefore, proceed appropriately in accordance with law Rupauli (Mohanpur) P.S. Case No. 29/2001. The application stands allowed to the extent indicated above. S.Sb/- (Navin Sinha, J.)