An offence of the nature of Section 498-A of IPC is generally of a continuing nature. Therefore, usually a single FIR is filed at any one of places where part of the offence might have taken place. Sometimes, there may be a situation that a specific act against the wife may be of such a serious nature (such as a serious injury in a single incident) that a separate FIR may be filed. But, generally, the practice has been to file a single FIR under Section 498-A of IPC against the husband, even though multiple FIRs may not be legally prohibited if each FIR can disclose a separate cause of action.
While full facts in your case are not known to me, from what you have mentioned it appears that filing of 4 different FIRs simultaneously now, after lapse of time, at 4 different place and different police stations, may perhaps be incorrect and instead of that a single FIR should have been filed.
Discharge in these cases would depend on the facts of each case, and generally, it may be difficult. Depending on the facts in individual cases, you may try quashing of FIR or discharge, as the case may be, on the basis of legal advice of your advocate who has seen the details of your case. But, you can definitely file a petition before the high court to club all these 4 FIRs together in a single police station. If these FIRs are in different states then you may have to approach the Supreme Court for this purpose. In this regard, Section 219 of the Criminal Procedure Code may come to your help, if it is applicable to the facts of your case, which provides that: “When a person is accused of more offences than one of the same kind committed within the space of twelve months from the first to the last of such offences, whether in respect of the same person or not, he may be charged with, and tried at one trial for, any number of them not exceeding three”.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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