Allowed

Bittu Singh v. State of Punjab and Others

Punjab & Haryana HC20 Nov 2024CRM-M/11412/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

This High Court of Punjab and Haryana allowed the petitioner's petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash an FIR and subsequent proceedings for adolescent defilement (IPC 363, 366-A). The court held that the offence, though non-compoundable, could be quashed as the parties had married and were living happily, and following precedent, consensual adolescent relationships should not be criminalized.

What did the court decide?

FIR No. 140 dated 11.10.2021 registered under Sections 363 and 366-A IPC and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom on the basis of compromise were quashed.

Bittu Singh Vs State of Punjab and Others — Matrimonial and Divorce | Punjab & Haryana HC (2024)

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CRM-M-11412-2024

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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236

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Criminal Misc. No. M-11412 of 2024 Date of decision :-20.11.2024

Bittu Singh

…..Petitioner

Versus

State of Punjab and others

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…..Respondents

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CORAM:- HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE NIDHI GUPTA

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Present:Mr. Lupil Gupta, Advocate for the petitioner.

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Ms. Rishu Madan, AAG, Pu n jab.

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Mr. Simranjot Singh, Advoc a te with Mr. Sumit Bhardwaj, Advoc a te for respondent No.3.

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NIDHI GUPTA J. (Oral)

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Prayer in the instant 2nd pe t ition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. i s for quashing of FIR No. 140 dated 11.10.2021 (Annexure P-1) regi s tered under Sections 363 and 3 66-A IPC at Police Station Bareta, D istrict Mansa and all the cons e quential proceedings arising therefro m , on merits, as petitioner a n d respondent No. 3 have solemniz e d marriage and are living happi l y as husband and wife. On 05.3.2024, the followin g order has been passed by

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this Cour t :-

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“Prayer in th e instant 2nd petition filed under Section 482 C r .P.C. is for quashing of FIR No. 140 dated 1 1 .10.2021 (Annexure P-1) registered under Sec t ions 363 and 366-A IPC at Police Station Bareta , District Mansa and all the

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VIJAY ASIJA 2024.11.22 11.29 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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CRM-M-11412-2024 2

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consequential procee d ings arising therefrom, on merits, as petitioner and respondent No. 3 have solemnized marriage and are living happily as husband and wife.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner, inter alia, submits that pe t itioner and respondent No. 3/alleged victim wer e in consensual relationship. It is submitted tha t at the time of incident respondent No. 3/victim was 17 yeas old as is mentioned in the FIR (Annexure P-1), which was registered on the basis of statement of complainant/respond e nt No. 2/father of respondent No. 3-vict i m. After attaining the age of majority, responden t No. 3 has solemnized marriage with the pe t itioner on 14.12.2021, as is evident from Anan d Karaj Certificate dated 14.12.2021 (Annexure P-4). Further, it is submitted that ea r lier the petitioner and respondent No. 3 ha v e approached this Court by way of filing CR W P- 11934-2021, seeking protection to their l ife and liberty which was disposed of by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court, vide order dated 20.12.2021 (Annexure P-7). Respondent No. 3-vi c tim has also sworn-in an affidavit dated 30.0 5 .2022 (Annexure P-8) and also issued 'no objection certificate' (Annexure P- 9) in favour of the petitioner wherein she stated that she had perform e d marriage with the present petitioner after atta i ning the age of majority against the wishes o f her father/respondent No. 2 and is living happily w ith the petitioner.

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Notice of motio n .

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On the asking of Court, Mr. S.S. Chahal, AAG, Punjab acce p ts notice on behalf of

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CRM-M-11412-2024 3

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respondent No. 1- S tate; whereas Mr. Sumit Bhardwaj, Advocate who is present in Court accepts notice on be h alf of respondent No. 3 and submits Vakalatnama, which is taken on record.

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Learned coun s el for respondent No. 3 submits that the victi m /respondent No. 3 does not know the w hereabouts of her father/complainant/re s pondent No. 2 herein. Adjourned to 3 1 .05.2024. Learned couns e l for the State is directed to file a detailed status report in the matter on or before the date fixed, with a copy in advance to learned counsel for th e petitioner.”

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Learned counsel for the Sta t e, on instructions from ASI Raunam Ram, has informed this Cour t that it is correct that the petitione r has solemnized marriage with t he alleged victim/respondent No.3 on 14.12.2021 as evident from A n and Karaj Certificate dated 14.12.20 2 1 (Annexure P-4). It is furthe r informed that a daughter is born to t h e petitioner and respondent No . 3. It is further informed, on instructions, that the victim/respondent N o.3 is residing happily in her matrimo n ial home with the petitioner an d their minor daughter.

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Learned counsel for the S tate further submits that a Cancella t ion Report was prepared in the p resent FIR by the concerned SHO o n 15.1.2022, which was, h owever, returned by the Superint e ndent of Police (D) on 08.10.2 0 22 for re-investigation in the matter. I t is informed that the same i s pending and is still under process a n d has yet not been presented b e fore the learned trial Court.

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CRM-M-11412-2024

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Learned counsel for the St a te further submits that the victim/re s pondent No.3 on the date of m arriage was 17 year and 11 month ol d and being minor her consent i s immaterial.

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Office report dated 28.5.2 0 24 shows that respondent No.2/co m plainant stand duly served, h o wever, none appears on his behalf.

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As per the Full Bench judgment of this Court in “Kulwinder Singh and others Vs State of Punjab”, 2007 (3) RCR (Criminal) 1052, it is held that High C o urt has power under Section 482 Cr.P . C. to allow the compounding o f non-compoundable offence and quas h the proceedings where the Hig h Court is of the opinion that the same is required to prevent the ab u se of the process of law or otherwis e to secure the ends of justice. T his power of quashing is not confined t o matrimonial disputes alone.

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Hon'ble Apex Court in the c a se of “Gian Singh Vs. State of Punjab and another”, 2012 (4) RCR (Criminal) 543, had also observed that in order to secure the end s of justice or to prevent the abuse of p rocess of Court, inherent powe r can be used by this Court to quash cri m inal proceedings in which a c o mpromise has been effected. The rele v ant portion of para 57 of the s aid judgment is reproduced here-in-b e low:-

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“57. The position that emer g es from the above discussion can be summarised thus: th e power of the High Court in quashing a criminal procee d ing or FIR or complaint in exercise of its inherent jurisdiction is distinct and different from the power g i ven to a criminal court for compounding the offences u n der Section 320 of the Code. Inherent power is of wide plenitude with no statutory limitation but it has to be e xercised in accord with the guideline engrafted in such power viz; (i) to secure the

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CRM-M-11412-2024 5

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ends of justice or (ii) to pr e vent abuse of the process of any Court.”

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The argument of the learn e d counsel for the State that any cons e nt of the minor victim is imm a terial, is liable to be rejected in view o f the judgment of Karnataka High Court in " G. Raghu

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Varma Vs. State of Karnataka & Others" Criminal Petition No.13469 of 2023 (482) decided on 19.02.2024 Law Finder Doc ID # 2506169 ; and of Andhra Pradesh High C ourt in " Moka Pradeep Vs. The State of Andhra Pradesh " Criminal Petition No.1043 of 2024 decided on 05.03.2024 , where it has been held that consensual adolesce n t relationships cannot be crimin a lized.

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In view of the admitted fact s as has been discussed herein-above, this petition is allowed and FI R No. 140 dated 11.10.2021 (Annexu r e P-1) registered under Secti o ns 363 and 366-A IPC at Police S t ation Bareta, District Mansa and all the consequential proceedi n gs arising therefrom on the bas i s of compromise are ordered to be qua s hed qua the petitioner.

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Whether sp e aking/reasoned Yes / No Whether Re p ortable Yes / No

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Bittu Singh v. State of Punjab and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Bittu Singh v. State of Punjab and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

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