Rejection Of An Application Under S.156(3) CrPC Neither Has Finality Nor Bars Registration Of An FIR : SC

The appellant filed a writ petition under Article 226 at Allahabad High Court to quash an FIR on the ground that the respondent’s application under S.156 (3) CrPC (now, 173(4) BNSS) had already been rejected by Add. CJM and further registration of FIR on substantially same allegations would cause burden of double proceedings. But the Court dismissed his petition.

Aggrieved by this decision, the appellant reached the SC. The Hon’ble Supreme Court upheld the order of the High Court, relying on its judgment in Mahendri and Ors. V. State of U.P. & Anr. (2015).

The Court held that an order passed under S.156(3) of the CrPC is confined to directing, or disclosing to direct the exercise of the statutory power of investigation under chapter XII of the Code. Such an order neither entails an adjudication on the merits of the allegation nor determines any right or liability of the proposed accused.

The rejection of an application of 156(3) cannot be accorded such finality as would attract the doctrine of res judicata so as to bar the subsequent registration of an FIR. Disclosure of fresh material if otherwise disclosed the commission of cognizable offence, registration of an FIR is mandatory under S.154 CrPC (now, S.173 BNSS).

This position stands authoritatively settled by the Constitution Bench in Lalita Kumari v. Govt. of U.P. & Ors. (2014) 2 SCC 1, wherein it was held that where the information furnished disclose the commission of a cognizable offence, registration of an FIR is mandatory.

Legal Citation: Pramod Kumar Shukla v. State Of Uttar Pradesh And Ors. (2026 INSC 887)

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