Petitioner sought quashing of FIR under Sections 363A and 366 IPC. Court held that since the parties compromised the dispute to restore peace and harmony, proceeding was an abuse of process. FIR and proceedings were quashed under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
FIR No. 155 dated 2.7.2009 and all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom are quashed.
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Criminal Misc. No. M-21090 of 2009
(1)
In the High Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh
Criminal Misc. No. M-21090 of 2009 (O&M)
Date of decision: 18.8.2009
Prince ...Petitioner vs State of Punjab and another ...Respondents
Coram Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal
Present Mr. Sandeep Arora, Advocate, for the petitioner.
Mr. Anter Singh Brar, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Punjab, for respondent no. 1.
Mr. G. S. Rawat, Advocate, for respondent no. 2.
Rajesh Bindal, J.
Prayer in the present petition is for quashing of FIR No. 155 dated 2.7.2009, registered at Police Station Sadar Jalandhar, under Sections 363A and 366 IPC and all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the dispute between the parties has been compromised with the intervention of the well-wishers and keeping in view that peace and harmony is maintained. Affidavit of the complainant has been placed on record as Annexure P-2, wherein she has stated that due to misunderstanding she had lodged FIR against the petitioner. The petitioner is innocent and her daughter Manpreet Kaur had left the house of her own and had gone to the house of some relative as her mother was pressuring her to marry a person of middle age. This contention is supported by the facts stated by Manpreet Kaur in a petition filed before Punjab State Human Rights Commission, on which cognizance was taken on 13.7.2009 (Copy of the order passed was produced in court, which was taken on record). Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that since the matter has been compromised, the FIR deserves to be quashed. Reliance has been placed upon a five Judge Bench judgment of this Court in Kulwinder Singh versus State of Punjab 2007 (3) Law Herald (P&H) 2225.
Respondent no.2-complainant, had appeared in Court in person who admitted the factum of compromise between the parties and stated that she has no objection in case FIR in question is quashed. She has also made a statement to this effect in the court.
Criminal Misc. No. M-21090 of 2009
(2)
Dealing with issue of quashing of FIR on the basis of compromise, a Bench consisting of five Hon'ble Judges of this Court in Kulwinder Singh's case (supra) while approving minority view in Dharambir v. State of Haryana, 2005 (2) Law Herald (P&H) (FB) 723 , opined as under:-
“The finest hour of justice arrives propitiously when parties, despite falling apart, bury the hatchet and weave a sense of fellowship of reunion.”
The power to do complete justice is the very essence of every judicial justice dispensation system. It cannot be diluted by distorted perceptions and is not a slave to anything, except to the caution and circumspection, the standards of which the Court sets before it, in exercise of such plenary and unfettered power inherently vested in it while donning the cloak of compassion to achieve the ends of justice.
Criminal Misc. No. M-21090 of 2009
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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.
Compromise in modern society is the sine qua non of harmony and orderly behaviour. As observed by Krishna Iyer J., the finest hour of justice arrives propitiously when parties despite falling apart, bury the hatchet and weave a sense
Criminal Misc. No. M-21090 of 2009
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of fellowship of reunion. Inherent power of the Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C is not limited to matrimonial cases alone. The Court has wide powers to quash the proceedings even in non-compoundable offences in order to prevent abuse of process of law and to secure ends of justice, notwithstanding bar under Section 320 Cr.P.C. Exercise of power in a given situation will depend on facts of each case. The duty of the Court is not only to decide a lis between the parties after a protracted litigation but it is a vital and extra-ordinary instrument to maintain and control social order. Resolution of dispute by way of compromise between two warring groups should be encouraged unless such compromise is abhorrent to lawful composition of society or would promote savagery, as held in Kulwinder Singh's case (supra).
Keeping in view the enunciation of law as referred to above and applying the same to the facts and circumstances of the present case, once the matter has been compromised between the parties, no useful purpose will be served by proceeding with the prosecution. Accordingly, FIR No. 155 dated 2.7.2009, registered at Police Station Sadar Jalandhar, under Sections 363A and 366 IPC and all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom are quashed.
The petition is disposed of accordingly.
( Rajesh Bindal) Judge
18.8.2009 vs.
3 issues framed by the court
Whether an FIR u/s 363A and 366 IPC can be quashed on ground of compromise between parties.
Whether Section 482 Cr.P.C. power to prevent abuse of process extends to non-compoundable offences.
Whether the compromise in a matrimonial discord case promotes social harmony and precludes prosecution.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Kulwinder SinghFollowed¶13
Kulwinder Singh versus State of Punjab, 2007 (3) Law Herald (P&H) 2225
Mrs. Shakuntala Sawhney Versus Mrs. Kaushalya Sawhney and others, (1980) 1 S.C.C. 63 · Who else cites this
3 provisions across 2 enactments
Prince
State of Punjab
Rajesh Bindal
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
