Shillong, Apr 24 (PTI) 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, a former MDC, had moved the court contending that the three FIRs stemmed from the same social media post and therefore could not be investigated separately.
His counsel submitted that multiple FIRs on the same cause of action are not maintainable in law and cited several Supreme Court judgments in support of the plea.
The FIRs were registered at Araimile, Songsak and Tura police stations in March this year under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and other relevant laws.
The court observed that the cases arose from the same set of allegations linked to the Facebook post and directed that they be clubbed and investigated by a single police station.
Accordingly, the FIRs registered at Tura and Songsak and later transferred to the Crime Branch Police Station (Western Range), Tura, have been ordered to be transferred to Araimile Police Station, where the first case was lodged.
The High Court also noted that the content of the post was alleged to be provocative and capable of disturbing public order among different communities, and said the investigation would proceed in accordance with the law.
The violence erupted in Garo Hills after the authorities issued a notification seeking to bar non-tribals from contesting the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council elections, in a departure from the practice that continued for over seven decades.
The high court later cancelled the notification, while the state government postponed the elections, scheduled for April 10, in view of violence that claimed two lives. PTI JOP NN
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