Court No. - 47
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 7963 of 2021 Petitioner :- Vijay Srivastava @ Vijay Kumar Srivastava And 4 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Virendra Nath Upadhyay Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J. Hon'ble Subhash Vidyarthi,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioners; Sri Jyoti Prakash, learned counsel for the respondent no. 4 and learned A.G.A.
This writ petition has been filed praying for the following reliefs:
"(i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the impugned First Information Report dated 19.8.2021 registered as Case Crime No. 303 of 2021, under Sections 498-A, 323, 504, 506 IPC and 3/4 D.P.Act, Police Station- Lalpur/Pandeypur, District- Varuna Commissionerate, Varanasi (Annexure No. 1 to this writ petition).
(ii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding the respondents not to arrest or harass the petitioners in pursuance of impugned First Information Report."
Present matter was taken up on 24.09.2021 and on the said date, it has been apprised that the parties have already settled the matter through mediation in the court below and on the request of learned counsel for the petitioners, the case was passed over for enabling him to bring on record the mutual agreement/settlement.
In response thereof, supplementary affidavit has been filed annexing therein report of the mediation centre dated 17.9.2021.
It is jointly submitted that this being an offshoot of a matrimonial dispute, same has come to be amicably resolved under the settlement agreement dated 17.9.2021, duly verified by the parties and their counsels before the Mediation Centre, pending proceedings would serve no purpose and the same are liable to be quashed in the light of the judgements of the Apex Court in the case of B.S. Joshi v. State of Haryana and others, 2003(4) SCC 675, and Gian Singh v. State of Punjab, 2012(10) SCC 303.
The Apex Court in the case of B.S Joshi (Supra) has held that in case the matrimonial dispute has come to an end, under a compromise/settlement, between the parties, then notwithstanding anything contained under Section 320 IPC there is no legal impediment for this court to quash the proceedings of Section 498-A I.P.C etc, which has matrimonial flavour under its inherent powers in view of the recorded settlement between the parties. The Apex Court in the case of Gian Singh (supra) has held in para-61 that;
"the power of the High Court in quashing a criminal proceeding or FIR or complaint in exercise of its inherent jurisdiction is distinct and different from the power given to a criminal court for compounding the offences Under Section 320 of the Code. Inherent power is of wide plenitude with no statutory limitation but it has to be exercised in accord with the guideline engrafted in such power viz; (i) to secure the ends of justice or (ii) to prevent abuse of the process of any Court. In what cases power to quash the criminal proceeding or complaint or F.I.R may be exercised where the offender and victim have settled their dispute would depend on the facts and circumstances of each case and no category can be prescribed. However, before exercise of such power, the High Court must have due regard to the nature and gravity of the crime. Heinous and serious offences of mental depravity or offences like murder, rape, dacoity, etc. cannot be fittingly quashed even though the victim or victim's family and the offender have settled the dispute. Such offences are not private in nature and have serious impact on society. Similarly, any compromise between the victim and offender in relation to the offences under special statutes like Prevention of Corruption Act or the offences committed by public servants while working in that capacity etc; cannot provide for any basis for quashing criminal proceedings involving such offences. But the criminal cases having overwhelmingly and pre-dominatingly civil favour stand on different footing for the purposes of quashing, particularly the offences arising from commercial, financial, mercantile, civil, partnership or such like transactions or the offences arising out of matrimony relating to dowry, etc. or the family disputes where the wrong is basically private or personal in nature and the parties have resolved their entire dispute. In this category of cases, High Court may quash criminal proceedings if in its view, because of the compromise between the offender and victim, the possibility of conviction is remote and bleak and continuation of criminal case would put accused to great oppression and prejudice and extreme injustice would be caused to him by not quashing the criminal case despite full and complete settlement and compromise with the victim. In other words, the High Court must consider whether it would be unfair or contrary to the interest of justice to continue with the criminal proceeding or continuation of the criminal proceeding would tantamount to abuse of process of law despite settlement and compromise between the victim and wrongdoer and whether to secure the ends of justice, it is appropriate that criminal case is put to an end and if the answer to the above question(s) is in affirmative, the High Court shall be well within its jurisdiction to quash the criminal proceeding."
The present dispute was between the husband and wife. Neither it is involving any moral turpitude nor is heinous in nature, which has come to an end under an amicable settlement dated 17.9.2021.
The writ petition is accordingly allowed and the proceedings of Case Crime No. 303 of 2021, under Sections 498-A, 323, 504, 506 IPC and 3/4 D.P. Act, Police Station Lalpur/Pandeypur, District Varuna Commissionerate, Varanasi are quashed.
Order Date :- 27.10.2021 A.K.Srivastava