13.The decision in Gian Singh holding the decision rendered in Nikhil Merchant and other cases to be correct is only an approval of the principle of law enunciated in the said decisions ie., that a non-compoundable offence can also be quashed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. On the ground of a settlement between the offender and the victim. It is not an affirmation, for there can be none, that the facts in Nikhil Merchant justified/called for the due application of the aforesaid principle of law. Also, neither Nikhil Merchant nor Gian Singh can be understood to mean that in a case where charges are framed for commission of noncompoundable offences or for criminal conspiracy to commit offences under the PC Act, if the disputes between the parties are settled by payment of the amounts due, the criminal proceedings should invariably be quashed. What really follows from the decision in Gian Singh is that though quashing a non-compoundable offence under Section 482 Cr.P.C, following a settlement between the parties, would not amount to circumvention of the provisions of Section 320 of the Code, the exercise of the power under Section 482 will always depend on the facts of each case. Furthermore, in the exercise of such power, the note of caution sounded in Gian Singh must be kept in mind. This, in our view, is the correct ratio of the decision in Gian Singh.”
