*🛡️Res Judicata* ♟️Res Judicata is a legal doctrine which states that once a competent court has finally decided a matter, the same party cannot re-litigate the same issue in any future lawsuit. *💎Legal Basis* ♟️Found in Section 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. ♟️Applies to Civil & Criminal Proceeding. ♟️Prevent multiple suits on the same cause of action. *💎Essential Conditions* ♟️Same parties (or their representatives). ♟️Same matter in issue. ♟️Final Judgment by a Competent Court. ♟️Judgment was on Merit. *💎Case laws* *♟️Pritam Singh v. State of Punjab, 1956 SC* The Supreme Court said that rule of res judicata applies to criminal cases just like civil cases. If someone is already found guilty in one trial based on certain evidence, they cannot be declared innocent in another trial using the same evidence. *♟️S.C Garg v. State of Uttar Pradesh, 2025 SC* The Supreme Court said that if a case under section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act has already been decided, then the same facts and findings cannot be used again to start a cheating case under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. This is because the rule of res judicata stops the same issue from being decided twice. *Therefore Res Judicata also applies to the Criminal Proceeding.*