Shillong, August 5: The Meghalaya High Court has directed that four FIRs registered against S.G. Esmatur Mominin at Phulbari Police Station be transferred to Araimile Police Station and clubbed with the case first registered there.
Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere passed the order on August 4 while disposing of four criminal petitions filed by Mominin. The cases were registered in connection with events relating to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council election, an alleged assault on the petitioner and his subsequent public address.
At the outset of the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel withdrew the request to quash the respective FIRs and instead sought their consolidation with Araimile Police Station Case No. 19 of 2026, which was registered first on March 10.
The petitions concerned Phulbari Police Station Case Nos. 10, 11, 12 and 13 of 2026. These cases were registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Meghalaya Maintenance of Public Order Act.
Counsel for the petitioner argued that all the FIRs arose from the same chain of events and that separate cases could not be registered over the same cause of action. It was also submitted that the complaints were primarily based on media reports and video clips rather than the complainants’ personal knowledge.
The petitioner relied on Supreme Court judgments in the Amish Devgan, T.T. Antony and Arnab Ranjan Goswami cases to support the argument against multiple FIRs arising from the same cause of action.
Additional Advocate General N.D. Chullai did not dispute the legal position or that the cases arose from the same cause of action. He informed the court that the four Phulbari FIRs would be transferred and clubbed with Araimile Police Station Case No. 19 of 2026.
Accepting the statement, the High Court directed that all records connected with the Phulbari cases be transferred to Araimile Police Station within three days from the date the order is uploaded.
The court accordingly allowed and disposed of the petitions. It also clarified that after the cases are clubbed, Mominin would remain at liberty to file a fresh petition seeking the quashing of the proceedings.
