Radhey Shyam v. State of Haryana
In the Supreme Court of India
WP (Crl) 75/2020
Before Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice J.B. Pardiwala
Decided on May 12, 2022

Relevancy of the case: Application for clubbing FIRs in multiple states against a Network Marketing Scheme

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66D, 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 120B, 406, 409, 420, 506)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 161, 173)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• An application was filed to club multiple FIRs against a Network Marketing Scheme filed in different states.
• FIRs in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh included offences arising from special enactments of the State acts.

Opinion of the Bench

• Relying on Amish Devgan v. Union of India, the court clubbed the FIRs under IPC filed in different states into a principal criminal case to avoid multiple proceedings in the larger public interest scheme. After collating all records, the investigation officer can file supplementary charge sheet/s.
• FIRs registered under general law and special enactments in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh shall be clubbed into principal criminal cases in respective states and be tried by the special courts.
• A separate appropriate investigation agency will deal with PMLA offences.

Final Decision

• The court clubbed the FIRs and disposed of the writ petitions and pending applications.

Nandita Karan Yadav, an undergraduate student at the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2024.