Rajasthan High Court: In a petition seeking consolidation of FIRs and a single bail order for efficiency and to avoid financial and procedural hardship, a single-judge bench of Arun Monga, J., directed the clubbing of all FIRs and held that the Bail granted in the principal FIR would apply to all clubbed cases unless circumstances warranted cancellation.
In the instant matter, the Creative Credit Cooperative Society Limited (the Society) was registered, under the Rajasthan Co-operative Societies Act, 17 years ago. The Society operated by accepting deposits from members and lending to members seeking loans. Due to COVID-19, loan repayments turned into Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), causing financial hardship. Government orders restrained recovery efforts for six months.
The Society is involved in 159 criminal complaints under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 by depositors and 195 recovery proceedings against borrowers. The Society’s management was replaced, and the new executive members filed multiple FIRs alleging embezzlement, mismanagement, and financial irregularities against the petitioners, the former management. The petitioners’ filed the present petition seeking consolidation of FIRs and a single bail order for efficiency and to avoid financial and procedural hardship.
The petitioners’ contended that multiple FIRs arise from the same or similar facts and allegations, making individual trials burdensome. The petitioners’ cited Vikram Singh v. State of Rajasthan, S.B. Criminal Writ Petition No. 1479/2023 dated 23.08.2024, and argued that uncoordinated trials violate the accused’s fundamental rights and procedural justice. However, the Public Prosecutor opposed a common bail order and asserted that bail must be sought individually for each FIR.
The Court acknowledged that the FIRs arose from similar allegations and were filed against the same accused by different complainants. The Court emphasised that clubbing would reduce the financial drain on the state exchequer and streamline the legal process.
Relying on Vikram Singh (Supra) and invoking Section 447 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the Court exercised its discretionary powers to transfer and consolidate cases for a fair and impartial trial, the Court ordered the clubbing of all FIRs for efficient administration of justice. The Court directed the transfer of cases to the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Pali, treating the earliest FIR as the principal FIR.
The Court relied on Abhishek Singh Chauhan v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Criminal) No.40/2022, dated 13.07.2022, and held that bail granted in the principal FIR would apply to all clubbed FIRs unless cancelled due to supervening circumstances.
[Akshay Kalla v. State of Rajasthan, 2024 SCC OnLine Raj 3340, Decided on 09-10-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Mr. Piyush Chouhan, Counsel for the Petitioners
Mr. Vikram Singh Rajpurohit – PP, Counsel for the Respondents
