Allowed

Mann Singh v. Jal Kaur

Punjab & Haryana HC17 Nov 2008CRM-M/25600/2008

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

In a petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C., thepetitionerprayed for quashing of criminal prosecutions for insults and offences under SC/ST Act following a compensation and settlement between the parties. The Court held that a genuine settlement justified quashing proceedings to prevent abuse of process and waste of time, allowing the petition.

What did the court decide?

Petition allowed; impugned complaint and consequent proceedings quashed.

Mann Singh Vs Jal Kaur — Cheque Dishonour | Punjab & Haryana HC (2008)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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Crl. Misc. No. 25600-M of 2008 Date of Decision: 17.11.2008

Mann Singh.

.. Petitioner

Vs.

Jai Kaur

.. Respondent.

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARVIND KUMAR,

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Present:Mr. Mohd. Yousaf, Advocate for petitioner.

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**Mr. P.S. Dhaliwal, Advocate for respondent. *****

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ARVIND KUMAR, J.

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Reply by way of affidavit of complainant-respondent Jal Kaur is taken on record.

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Through the instant petition quashing of Criminal Complaint bearing No.43 dated 1.10.2004 (Annexure P-1) titled as Jai Kaur Vs. Mann Singh, under Sections 154, 294, 298, 500, 504, 506 of Indian Penal code and 3/4 of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Attrocities) Act pending before Special Judge, Sangrur and subsequent proceedings taken therein, has been sought on the basis of compromise (Annexure P-2), stated to have entered between the parties.

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The facts as culled out from the petition are that respondent Jal Kaur filed a complaint before the Court below with the allegations that on 17.3.2004 when she was sitting in the clinic of one Ashwani Kumar, then the petitioner came there and used filthy language and threatened her to kill and also threw away her dupatta from head and earlier thereto the petitioner gave abuses in the caste of respondent, who belongs to Scheduled Caste.

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On the basis of preliminary evidence, the petitioner was summoned and now the case is stated to be fixed for after charge evidence. Now, it has been contended that the parties have settled the

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dispute amicably with the intervention of respectables and the complainant has decided not to pursue the case against the petitioner. Affidavit of complainant Jai Kaur as well as compromise (Annexure P-2) have been placed on record containing the recitals of the parties having compromised the matter and their agreement to withdraw the cases pending against each other, as a consequence of the compromise.

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By now it is fully settled that the High Court in exercise of inherent powers can quash the proceedings if it finds that allowing of any such proceedings to continue would be an abuse of process of the Court or that ends of justice require that the proceedings be quashed. In the case of State of Karnataka v. L. Muniswami, AIR 1977 SC 1489, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed that the ends of justice are higher than ends of mere law, though justice has got to be administered according to the laws made by the legislature yet the Court proceeding ought not to be permitted to degenerate into a weapon of harassment or persecution.

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In the case of Mrs. Shakuntala Sawhney v. Mrs. Kaushalya and others 1980(1) SCC 63, the essence of compromise has been summed up in following words:-

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“ The finest hour of justice arrives propitiously when parties, despite falling apart, bury the hatchet and weave a sense of fellowship of reunion.”

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The Larger Bench of this Court in the case of Kulvinder Singh & Ors. Vs. State of Punjab & Anr. 2007(3) RCR (Criminal) 1052, while discussing the scope of quashing of prosecution on the basis of compromise, by this Court in exercise of powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C., even in noncompoundable offence(s) has held as under:-

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“28. The compromise, in a modern society, is the sine qua non of harmony and orderly behaviour. It is the soul of justice and if the power under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. is used to enhance such a compromise which, in turn, enhances the social amity and reduces friction, then it truly is “finest hour of justice”. Disputes which have their genesis in a matrimonial discord, landlord-tenant

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matters, commercial transactions and other such matters can safely be dealt with by the Court by exercising its powers under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. in the event of a compromise, but this is not to say that the power is limited to such cases. There can never be any such rigid rule to prescribe the exercise of such power, especially in the absence of any premonitions to forecast and predict eventualities which the cause of justice may throw up during the course of a litigation.

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The only inevitable conclusion from the above discussion is that there is no statutory bar under the Cr.P.C. which can affect the inherent power of this Court under Section 482. Further, the same cannot be limited to matrimonial cases alone and the Court has the wide power to quash the proceedings even in noncompoundable offences notwithstanding the bar under Section 320 of the Cr.P.C. in order to prevent the abuse of law and to secure the ends of justice.”

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In the instant case, as emerges from record, the parties, who are belonging to same village, have mutually settled their dispute and have put to rest the litigation. Since the complainant has decided to withdraw from the prosecution, this Court is of the considered view that continuance of such a prosecution is nothing but an exercise in futility and sheer wastage of time of Court. Therefore, considering the aspect of settlement having arrived at between the parties, it is a fit case where interference of this Court in exercise of its inherent powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. is made out.

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Therefore, in view of the discussion above, the instant petition is allowed. Consequently, impugned complaint and all other consequent proceedings thereto, are quashed.

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(ARVIND KUMAR) JUDGE

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November 17, 2008

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Jiten

Mann Singh v. Jal Kaur

Case brief

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Mann Singh v. Jal Kaur

Case brief

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What did the court decide?

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