When can a second FIR be registered? Supreme Court answers

The Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down the principles regarding the permissibility of the registration of a second First Information Report (FIR) for the same incident or same set of circumstances. .The Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra laid down the following five principles/ conditions which permit lodging of a second FIR:- When the second FIR is counter-complaint or presents a rival version of a set of facts, in reference to which an earlier FIR already stands registered; - When the ambit of the two FIRs is different even though they may arise from the same set of circumstances;- When investigation and/or other avenues reveal the earlier FIR or set of facts to be part of a larger conspiracy. - When investigation and/or persons related to the incident bring to the light hitherto unknown facts or circumstances. - Where the incident is separate; offences are similar or different..The top court was dealing with a case where Chief Executive Officer-cum-Project Director of Rajasthan's Bio-fuel Authority, Surendra Singh Rathore (respondent), was accused of demanding a bribe of ₹2 per litre for the sale of bio-diesel, that is, ₹15 lakh per month with a further ₹5 lakh for renewing the license of the complainant. The first FIR was numbered as 123 of 2022 under Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. This was in connection with an alleged demand for a bribe that took place on April 4, 2022. A second FIR was lodged on April 14, 2022 for incidents that allegedly took place between September 30, 2021 and April 12, 2022, when one Shyam Prakash, a constable with the Anti-Corruption Bureau complained that Rathore was taking bribes to grant licenses to run bio-fuel pumps..The Rajasthan High Court 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 the same was a must and without the same, the FIR could not have been investigated. In light of the same, the High Court quashed the second FIR in the exercise of powers under Section 482 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The State appealed before the Supreme Court against the High Court verdict..The top court allowed the appeal on the ground that the second FIR pertained to the larger issue of widespread corruption in the concerned department and was, therefore, much larger in its scope than the previous 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..Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal Sharma and Advocates Saubhagya Sundriyal, Rustam Singh Chauhan, and Nidhi Jaswal, represented the Rajasthan government. Senior Advocate Maninder Singh and Advocates Anand Varma, Ayush Gupta, and Ranga Sharan represented Surendra Singh Rathore..[Read Judgment]