Raj Kumar and Others vs State

A.K. Pathak, J.

Cri. M.A. 5022/2015

Appellants have been convicted for the offence under Sections 325/34 IPC by the trial court vide judgment impugned in this appeal. Appellant No. 1 has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years with fine of Rs. 15,000/- and in default of payment of fine to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months; appellant Nos. 2 and 3 have been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years with fine of Rs. 10,000/- and in default of payment of fine to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months. Offence under Section 325 IPC is compoundable with the permission of court before which any prosecution of offence is pending. Sub-section 5 of Section 320 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.) stipulates that when the accused has been committed for trial or when he has been convicted and an appeal is pending, no composition for the offence shall be allowed without the leave of the Court to which he is committed, or, as the case may be, before which the appeal is to be heard. Accordingly, in view of Sub Section 5 of Section 320 Cr.P.C. the offence under Section 325 IPC can be compounded with the permission of Court.

Appellants, complainant as well as injured have settled their disputes amicably on the terms and conditions as stipulated in the Deed of Settlement dated 31st March, 2015. Complainant-Ajay Singh and injured Prabhat are present in Court and have affirmed that they have settled the matter with the appellants. They also admit that they have signed the Deed of Settlement which has been annexed as Annexure ''A'' to the present application whereby prayer of compounding the offence has been made. Application is also supported by the affidavits of Ajay Singh and Prabhat. Appellants, complainant and injured are resident of same locality and are known to each other. A perusal of impugned judgment shows that a quarrel took place between them on trivial issue. Appellants, complainant and injured have now settled their disputes being resident of same locality, inasmuch as, they intend to maintain harmonious relations in future. Keeping in mind totality of the circumstances, application is allowed and offence under Section 325 IPC is permitted to be compounded, consequently, appellants are acquitted. As regards fine deposited by the appellants is concerned, the same be treated as cost of litigation and need not be refunded to them. Appeal is disposed of in the above terms.