The bench of Dr DY Chandrachud and MR Shah, JJ has refused to transfer to CBI the criminal cases lodged against Republic TV Editor in-Chief Arnab Goswami for alleged defamatory news show telecast on April 21 in connection with the Palghar mob-lynching case. It also quashed all FIRs against Arnab Goswami except one which was filed in Nagpur and which has been transferred to Mumbai via order dated 24.04.2020.
[Excerpt from SCC Online Blog, May 19, 2020]
Delivering the verdict, Justice Chandrachud said, ― Article 32 of the Constitution constitutes recognition of the constitutional duty entrusted to this Court to protect the fundamental rights of citizens. The exercise of journalistic freedom lies at the core of speech and expression protected by Article 19(1)(a). The petitioner is a media journalist. The airing of views on television shows which he hosts is in the exercise of his fundamental right to speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). India's freedoms will rest safe as long as journalists can speak truth to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal…Free citizens cannot exist when the news media is chained to adhere to one position. Yuval Noah Harari has put it succinctly in his recent book titled “21 Lessons for the 21st Century”: “Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.”
[Excerpt from Arnab Ranjan Goswami vs Union Of India on 19 May, 2020]
In the above passage, the Court ordered for the merging of different FIRs into one and the investigation to be conducted at Mumbai. What is the reason behind such order?
Correct Answer :
Multiple FIRs mean multiple investigations and the same might cause hardships to the accused.
Solution :
Correct Answer: Multiple FIRs mean multiple investigations and the same might cause hardships to the accused.
Explanation:
When multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) are registered across different jurisdictions for the same alleged offense or incident, it subjects the accused to multiple parallel investigations, repeated summons, and potential arrest in different locations. In criminal jurisprudence, consolidating or merging multiple FIRs arising from the same cause of action into a single investigation (usually where the primary or first investigation was initiated) prevents unnecessary harassment, abuse of legal process, and undue hardship to the accused.
Therefore, the primary legal rationale behind quashing multiple duplicate FIRs and transferring/merging them into one single investigation site is to protect the accused from the hardship of facing multiple simultaneous investigations across different states/cities for the exact same event.
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