Supreme Court Holds That Multiple Complaints Arising from a Single Criminal Conspiracy May Be Investigated Through One FIR Where Acts Form the Same Transaction

Held: The Supreme Court held that where allegations disclose a single overarching criminal conspiracy resulting in cheating of numerous victims through acts having unity of purpose and design, such acts may constitute the “same transaction”, permitting registration of one FIR and investigation of all related offences therein, subject to the trial court’s determination at the stage of framing of charges under Sections 220 and 223 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Summary: The appeal arose from a reference answered by the Delhi High Court holding that each deposit made by different investors pursuant to an alleged cheating conspiracy required a separate FIR and separate charge sheets. The case related to a large-scale fraud involving inducement of 1,852 victims to deposit money on the false promise of tripling returns through alleged divine powers. The Supreme Court undertook an exhaustive review of jurisprudence on “same transaction”, consolidation of FIRs, criminal conspiracy, and multiplicity of proceedings, analysing precedents including T.T. Antony, Cheemalapati Ganeswara Rao, Amish Devgan, and Narinderjit Singh Sahni. The Court found that the reference itself was premature, that the investigation ultimately disclosed a single criminal conspiracy under Section 120B IPC, and that the course adopted by the Delhi Police in registering one FIR and treating other complaints as statements under Section 161 CrPC was legally correct at the investigation stage.

Decision: The appeal was allowed, the answers given by the Delhi High Court to questions (a) and (b) were set aside, and it was clarified that the Magistrate would determine at the stage of framing of charges whether the offences formed part of the same transaction so as to permit a single trial or required separate trials in accordance with law, with appreciation recorded for the assistance of the amicus curiae and all pending applications disposed of.