(ii) whether the report of a Commission of Inquiry into the same incident is binding upon the investigating agency. B. Observations by the Supreme Court (i) FIR [First Information Report] is the record of the information received first in time and is written and registered on the basis of that information. In other words, it is the record of the earliest information received about a cognizable offence. Therefore, the Supreme Court affirmed that the question of having a second FIR does not arise. However, it is possible that more than one piece of information may be received from time to time and from different people in respect of the same incident. In such a situation, the Court clarified, that before submitting the Magistrates report, the officer in charge of a police station must investigate not merely the cognizable offence reported in the FIR but also other connected offences found to have been committed in the course of the same transaction or the same occurrence. They said that, if after filing the investigation report before the magistrate, the investigating officer comes across further information or material, he [she] need not register a fresh FIR, he [she] is empowered to make further investigation, normally with the leave of the court to collect further evidence. (ii) The Supreme Court said that the police is not bound by the findings of a Commission of Inquiry. The government for varied reasons of its own sets up a Commission of Inquiry and it is for them to endorse or reject the findings or recommendations. However, the police as an independent investigating agency of the State must act only in accordance with the law and on the evidence before it. Nevertheless the police can take advantage of the facts and findings of a Commission of Inquiry as a factor in its own investigations but the findings should not preclude the investigating agency from forming a different opinion if the evidence obtained by it supports such a conclusion. C. Directions by the Supreme Court 1. There can only be one FIR in respect of an incident. 2. If any additional information is received after the FIR is registered, the police can investigate on it and mention the result in the report to 68 Manual on Human Rights for Police Officers