TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (2) TMI 1987
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.... us. 3. The brief facts giving rise to the present lis are as under: - 3.1 Three persons, namely, Vipin Parihar, Chief Marketing Officer, Fern Bio-fuel Private Limited, his business partner Deven Shah and Satya Narayan Saini S.D. of Kusum Petro Chemicals, lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau to the effect that the respondent, who is employed as Chief Executive Officer-cum-Project Director, Bio-fuel Authority, Government of Rajasthan, allegedly demanded a bribe @ Rs.2/- per litre for the sale of bio-diesel, i.e. Rs.15 lakhs per month with a further Rs.5 lakhs for renewal of the license of the complainant. This FIR is numbered as 123 of 2022 under Sections 7 and 7A of the P.C. Act. This demand took place on 4th April 2022. 3.2 A second FIR was lodged on 14th April 2022 for the incidents which took place between 30th September 2021 to 12th April 2022 when one Mr. Shyam Prakash, Constable with the Anti-Corruption Bureau, brought information to the notice of Mr. Parsamal, DSP, that amongst other persons the respondent is indulging in taking bribes to grant licenses to run bio-fuel pumps. One Nimba Ram and Ashish were the middlemen, who were put on surveillance aft....
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....al in nature and committed within a very short span of time. The second incident which war earlier to the subject matter of the first FIR could have been investigate in the first FIR itself as one trial of two charges was permissible under the law." Having recorded thus, it was held that the second FIR was an abuse of the process of law. On the aspect of prior permission being required to proceed against the respondent, it was found that prior permission was a must and without the same, the impugned FIR could not have been investigated. It was with this understanding that the High Court quashed the second FIR in the exercise of powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. 6. We have heard learned counsel of the parties and perused the written submissions filed. The sole question for our consideration is whether the registration of the subsequent FIR is legally permissible and whether the High Court was correct in exercising its inherent powers in quashing the same. 7. We find that a judgment of this court titled T.T. Antony (supra) records the position that a second FIR is not maintainable. The relevant extract is as under : "27. A just balance between the fundamental rights ....
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....gnizable offence. The purpose of registering an FIR is to set the machinery of criminal investigation into motion, which culminates with filing of the police report in terms of Section 173(2) of the Code. It will, thus, be appropriate to follow the settled principle that there cannot be two FIRs registered for the same offence. However, where the incident is separate; offences are similar or different, or even where the subsequent crime is of such magnitude that it does not fall within the ambit and scope of the FIR recorded first, then a second FIR could be registered. The most important aspect is to examine the inbuilt safeguards provided by the legislature in the very language of Section 154 of the Code. These safeguards can be safely deduced from the principle akin to double jeopardy, rule of fair investigation and further to prevent abuse of power by the investigating authority of the police. Therefore, second FIR for the same incident cannot be registered. Of course, the investigating agency has no determinative right. It is only a right to investigate in accordance with the provisions of the Code. The filing of report upon completion of investigation, either for cancellation....
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....ay the least, too technical. The ultimate object of every investigation is to find out whether the offences alleged have been committed and, if so, who have committed it." (Emphasis supplied) 8.3 The position regarding the second FIR has been clarified by a Three-Judge Bench of this Court in Upkar Singh v. Ved Prakash- (2004) 13 SCC 292. The relevant discussion made in the judgment is extracted herein below for ready reference : "21. From the above it is clear that even in regard to a complaint arising out of a complaint on further investigation if it was found that there was a larger conspiracy than the one referred to in the previous complaint then a further investigation under the court culminating in another complaint is permissible. 22. A perusal of the judgment of this Court in Ram Lal Narang v. State (Delhi Admn.) [(1979) 2 SCC 322 : 1979 SCC (Cri) 479] also shows that even in cases where a prior complaint is already registered, a counter-complaint is permissible but it goes further and holds that even in cases where a first complaint is registered and investigation initiated, it is possible to file a further complaint by the same complainant based on....
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....able to be quashed. However, in case, the contrary is proved, where the version in the second FIR is different and they are in respect of the two different incidents/crimes, the second FIR is permissible. In case in respect of the same incident the accused in the first FIR comes forward with a different version or counterclaim, investigation on both the FIRs has to be conducted." (Emphasis supplied) 8.5 In Nirmal Singh Kahlon v. State of Punjab- (2009) 1 SCC 441 this Court held, in the following terms that when a new discovery is made, the second FIR would be maintainable. It was said as follows : "67. The second FIR, in our opinion, would be maintainable not only because there were different versions but when new discovery is made on factual foundations. Discoveries may be made by the police authorities at a subsequent stage. Discovery about a larger conspiracy can also surface in another proceeding, as for example, in a case of this nature. If the police authorities did not make a fair investigation and left out conspiracy aspect of the matter from the purview of its investigation, in our opinion, as and when the same surfaced, it was open to the State and/or the H....