The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a plea seeking a direction to club 53 FIRs pending in seven states in relation to the alleged duping of Rs 49 crore from investors, observing that instead of a victim-centric judicial approach, pro-accused judgements were being passed in the name of consolidation of FIR and speedy trial.

 

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi did not agree to the submissions of senior advocate Aman Lekhi, appearing for the accused Upendra Nath Mishra and Kali Prasad Mishra. This led to the withdrawal of the plea.

 

Several criminal cases are pending against the accused in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Andhra Pradesh. Referring to previous apex court judgements which ordered consolidation of FIRs in big fraud cases, the bench asked what would happen to the rights of the victims of such crimes, while refusing to order consolidation of the FIRs.

 

The CJI referred to recent amendments in criminal law and said that now the rights of victims have been acknowledged.

 

Every case of fraud is distinct and separate, as the victim and the defrauded amount are different, the bench said, adding that, of course, the accused remains the same.

 

The bench said that for investigation, the FIRs cannot be clubbed, adding that such victims of fraud are also invisible victims of the judicial system, which did not think about them. Justice Bagchi said every crime of fraud, cheating and conspiracy is separate and distinct and asked why should the victims of such offences suffer.