Allowed

Amandeep Singh etc. v. State of Punjab etc.

Punjab & Haryana HC13 Aug 2009CRM-M/14835/2009

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Petitioners sought quashing of an FIR registered under Section 498-A IPC and Dowry Prohibition Act alleging matrimonial discord. The High Court allowed the petition, quashing the FIR and consequential proceedings based on a compromise between parties.

What did the court decide?

FIR No. 126 dated 29.08.2008 registered under Section 498-A/406/34 IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, along with all consequential proceedings, were quashed.

Amandeep Singh etc. Vs State of Punjab etc. — Matrimonial and Divorce | Punjab & Haryana HC (2009)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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Crl. Misc. No. M-14835 of 2009

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Date of decision: 13.08.2009

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Amandeep Singh s/o Bahu Singh and others

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..... PETITIONERS

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VERSUS

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State of Punjab and another

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..... RESPONDENTS

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH

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Present : Mr. Mohd. Yousaf, Advocate, for the petitioners.

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Mr. Amandeep Singh, AAG, Punjab. Mr.R.S.Modi, Advocate, for respondent No. 2.

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AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (ORAL)

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The present petition is for quashing of FIR No. 126 dated 29.08.2008 registered under Section 498-A/406/34 of the Indian Penal Code and 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act at Police Station Amargarh, District Sangrur (Annexure P-1) and all consequential proceedings arising out therefrom on the basis of a compromise dated 15.11.2008, copy whereof has been placed on record as Annexure P-2.

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Counsel for the petitioners contends that in compliance with the compromise entered into between the parties, Amandeep Singh and Rupinderjit Kaur have filed their applications for divorce by mutual consent, which is pending before the Court at Sangrur. It has further been contended by the counsel for the petitioners that the parties have amicably

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Crl. Misc. No. M-14835 of 2009

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resolved their dispute, which was primarily a matrimonial discord between the parties. The matter having been amicably resolved, the FIR in question may be quashed.

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Upon notice having been issued, reply by way of short affidavit of Rupinderjit Kaur d/o Kuldeep Singh-respondent No. 2-complainant has been filed in the Court, wherein she has stated that in view of the compromise entered into between the parties, she has no objection if the FIR in question registered against the petitioners along with all consequential proceedings arising therefrom are quashed. She herself is present in Court, as having been identified by her counsel and has stated that a compromise has been entered into between the parties and amicable settlement of the dispute has been entered into with the intervention of the respectables and relatives and friends. She further states that she has no objection if the FIR in question and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom are quashed. She also admits the factum of the divorce petition by mutual consent being pending before the Court at Sangrur.

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Keeping in view the totallity of the circumstances in the present case and statement of respondent No. 2-Rupinderjit Kaur, complainant as also the compromise, which has been entered into between the parties, the matter being primarily a matrimonial dispute which has been amicably settled and resolved, no useful purpose would be served by further exaggerating the agony of the parties and putting them to discomfort.

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A Larger Bench of this Court in the case of Kulwinder 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, in exercise of powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C., even in

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Crl. Misc. No. M-14835 of 2009

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non-compoundable 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 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 non-compoundable 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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Therefore, in view of the discussion above, since the parties have amicably settled the matter, no useful purpose would be served if the proceedings are continued before the trial Court.

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Crl. Misc. No. M-14835 of 2009

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Accordingly, the present petition is allowed. FIR No. 126 dated 29.08.2008 registered under Section 498-A/406/34 of the Indian Penal Code and 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act at Police Station Amargarh, District Sangrur (Annexure P-1) along with all consequential proceedings are hereby quashed.

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( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) JUDGE

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August 13, 2009 pj

Amandeep Singh etc. v. State of Punjab etc.

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Amandeep Singh etc. v. State of Punjab etc.

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