In Brief
Two neighboring agriculturists with a long history of disputes fought a criminal case over a physical altercation on 5 August 2012. The respondent filed an initial non-cognizable report, and the appellants' son filed a counter-report. Five years later, the appellants sought police investigation. The respondent then filed a private complaint six years after the incident with significantly different and expanded allegations. The Supreme Court quashed all proceedings, holding that successive complaints by the same party for the same incident with material improvements amount to abuse of court process. The Court emphasized that Magistrates must scrutinize frivolous complaints carefully and that permitting multiple proceedings violates the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
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