SC notice to Raj on ex-min's plea to club or junk FIRs

Jaipur: The Supreme Court Wednesday issued a notice to the Rajasthan govt on a plea filed by former cabinet minister and ex-MLA Pramod Jain Bhaya.

He asked for nearly 29 FIRs registered against him across different police stations to be clubbed together or quashed. The court, however, refused to stop the ongoing investigation and directed Bhaya to cooperate in all pending cases.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta heard the matter. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Bhaya, argued that the FIRs were lodged after the 2023 assembly polls to harass him following his defeat and his break with the ruling party. He told the court the complaints were overlapping, vague, and politically driven, and sought urgent interim relief by halting all investigations.

Opposing the plea, additional advocate general Shiv Mangal Sharma, representing the state govt, said each FIR involved separate facts, different complainants, and distinct offences ranging from illegal mining to forged pattas, misuse of funds, and fabrication of documents. He argued that clubbing them was not possible because they were filed in different police stations and several investigations were already at an advanced stage. He stressed that each case was being investigated on its own merit.

After hearing both sides, the court declined to grant interim relief but directed that no coercive steps be taken against Bhaya until the next hearing. The apex court made it clear that investigations would continue and Bhaya must cooperate fully.

The petition also challenges a May 1 order of the Rajasthan High Court in Jaipur that rejected Bhaya's request, saying the FIRs did not arise from a single transaction and that his reliefs were contradictory. Many of the FIRs name Bhaya, his wife, and close aides in alleged manipulation of tenders, misuse of municipal powers, and encroachment of public land. The court has asked the state govt to file its response within four weeks.