In Brief
A public charitable trust's chief executive officer filed an FIR against the treasurer and three bank officials alleging fraud and forgery. Earlier, a trustee had filed a separate complaint implicating the chief executive, the treasurer, and the same bank officials in a conspiracy to siphon trust funds. The High Court quashed the second FIR as impermissible. The Supreme Court held that a second FIR, filed as a counter-complaint presenting a different version of the same incident, is legally permissible and not barred by law. Once validly filed, such an FIR must be tried on merits. The High Court erred in not applying settled law principles on multiple FIRs. The appeal was allowed and the case was remitted for trial.
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