The Supreme Court on September 26, 2025, ruled that nationwide consolidation of First Information Reports (FIRs) involving different witnesses, evidence, and local laws is impermissible. A bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran refused to club multiple FIRs registered against Odela Satyam and others across various states in a multi-crore financial scam. The Court clarified that clubbing of FIRs is only permissible when multiple FIRs arise from the same incident or transaction. The judgment distinguished the case from Amish Devgan v. Union of India (2021), where FIRs were consolidated for a single televised statement. While rejecting pan-India consolidation, the Court permitted state-wise clubbing of FIRs where multiple cases existed within the same state. The Court emphasized that trials involving investor-witnesses from various locations would make nationwide clubbing impractical and rejected prayers seeking consolidation of future FIRs as “overambitious and outright illegal”.
