Shillong, April 25: The Meghalaya High Court has directed state authorities to consolidate multiple FIRs registered against former District Council member Sofior Rahman, ruling that the cases arise from a common cause of action linked to unrest in the Garo Hills region.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere issued the order while disposing of a petition filed by Rahman, who had sought the clubbing of three FIRs lodged at different police stations over a Facebook post allegedly connected to tensions surrounding the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council elections.
The court held that the allegations in the FIRs were intrinsically linked to the same incident and directed that they be merged for the purpose of investigation. “The directions shall be complied with forthwith. The petition is accordingly disposed of,” the bench stated.
Rahman had argued that the FIRs, registered at Araimile, Songsak and Tura police stations in March, stemmed from the same social media post and could not be investigated separately. His counsel maintained that multiple FIRs based on identical facts are not legally sustainable, citing precedents of the Supreme Court of India.
The cases were registered under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and other applicable laws. Acting on the submissions, the High Court directed that the FIRs initially registered at Tura and Songsak, and later transferred to the Crime Branch Police Station (Western Range), Tura, be moved to Araimile Police Station, where the first FIR had been filed. It further ordered that the investigation be conducted by a single police station in accordance with law.
The court also noted that the social media post in question was alleged to be provocative and capable of disturbing public order among communities, adding that the probe would proceed under established legal procedures.
The matter is linked to violence in the Garo Hills region following tensions over a government notification proposing to bar non-tribals from contesting GHADC elections, a move that marked a departure from long-standing practice. The High Court had earlier set aside the notification, while the state government postponed the polls, originally scheduled for April 10, after unrest led to two fatalities.
