In Brief
Neighboring parties in Meerut engaged in a physical altercation in 2012. Both filed competing complaints—one as an NCR and another as private complaint—against each other for the same incident. The respondent filed a private complaint six years later with materially expanded allegations including animal cruelty, and suppressed the fact that charges had already been filed against him. The Supreme Court quashed all proceedings arising from the incident, holding that successive complaints by the same party for the same incident constitute abuse of process and violate Article 21. The court emphasized that trial Magistrates must rigorously scrutinize frivolous complaints before issuing summons and used inherent powers to quash proceedings instituted with malafide intent and considerable delay.
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