As per case facts the petitioner former Managing Director of a company faces FIRs across States for financial fraud involving investment schemes and has been in custody since His initial ... plea to transfer all FIRs to one state was rejected leading to an appeal to the Supreme Court seeking consolidation of multiple FIRs within the respective States where they were registered The question arose whether multiple FIRs particularly those involving both general and special state laws for depositor protection can be clubbed into the earliest FIR in each respective state for consolidated trial to prevent multiplicity of proceedings Finally the Supreme Court allowed the clubbing of subsequent FIRs in each State into the principal earliest FIR directing that the subsequent FIRs be treated as statements under the Criminal Procedure Code with the option to file supplementary charge-sheets It clarified that trials especially those involving special state protection of depositor laws must proceed in the Special Court under the special law and bail granted in the principal FIR will generally enure to the petitioner's benefit in the clubbed cases

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