The Meghalaya High Court has directed the consolidation of three FIRs lodged against former Member of the District Council (MDC) Sofior Rahman over a Facebook post, which allegedly led to violence that erupted in Garo Hills region following tension over the GHADC elections.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere passed the order while disposing of a petition filed by Rahman seeking clubbing of the cases registered at different police stations.
“The directions shall be complied with forthwith. The petition is accordingly disposed of,” the court said.
Rahman had approached the court contending that the FIRs, registered at Araimile, Songsak and Tura police stations in March, stemmed from the same social media post and therefore could not be investigated separately. His counsel argued that multiple FIRs based on the same set of facts are not legally sustainable, citing precedents of the Supreme Court.
The cases were registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and other applicable laws. The High Court observed that the allegations in all three FIRs were intrinsically linked to the same incident and directed that they be consolidated for the purpose of investigation.
