SC overturns HC’s multiple FIR ruling

THE HC RULING HAD EMERGED IN 2019 WHILE DEALING WITH A CASE INVOLVING 1,852 VICTIMS OF A PONZI SCHEME

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside a 2019 judgment of the Delhi high court that had mandated the registration of separate first information reports (FIRs) for each investor or depositor allegedly cheated in large-scale economic offences such as Ponzi schemes and mass homebuyer frauds.

A bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe held that the manner in which criminal law is set into motion cannot be governed by a rigid or inflexible rule, and that whether multiple FIRs are required, or a single consolidated FIR would suffice, must depend on the facts of each case.