Satinder Singh vs State of Punjab and Another

Nirmaljit Kaur, J.—This is a petition u/s 482 Cr.P.C. for quashing of FIR No. 1 dated 03.01.2012 u/s 406, 498 IPC, Police Station Sirhind, District Fatehgarh Sahib (Annexure P-1) which was got registered by respondent No. 2 -complainant against the present petitioners on the basis of the compromise dated 19.01.2012 arrived at between the parties. Copy of the same has been placed on record as Annexure P-2. Complainant-Manpreet Kaur is present in Court along with her counsel. She filed reply by way of affidavit admitting the contents of the petition. In the end, she has stated that she has no objection if the said FIR is quashed. As per the said compromise, the parties have already decided to live separately and they do not want to keep the relations as husband and wife between them.

From the above, it is clear that the parties have amicably compromised the matter and no useful purpose would be served by continuing the criminal proceedings.

The Full Bench of this Court in the case of Kulwinder Singh and others v. State of Punjab and another-2007(3) RCR (Criminal) 1052 has observed as under:

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 u/s 482 of the Cr.P.C. is used to enhance such a compromise which, in turn, enhances the social amity and reduced 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 exercising its power u/s 482 of the Cr.P.C in the event of a compromise, but this is not to say power is limited to such cases. There can never be any such rigid rules to prescribe the exercise of such power.

The Apex Court in the case of Madan Mohan Abbot Vs. State of Punjab, as follows:-

We need to emphasize that it is perhaps advisable that in disputes where the question involved is of a purely personal nature, the Court should ordinarily accept the terms of the compromise even in CRM No. M 3925 of 2012 3 criminal proceedings as keeping the matter alive with no possibility of a result in favour of the prosecution is a luxury which the Courts, grossly overburdened as they are, cannot afford and that the time so saved can be utilised in deciding more effective and meaningful litigation. This is a common sense approach to the matter based on ground of realities and bereft of the technicalities of the law.

Taking into account the allegations, compromise as well as reply filed by the complainant, admitting the factum of the said compromise, there is no impediment in the way of this Court to quash the present FIR and subsequent proceedings arising out of the same in view of the above said settled proposition of law.

Accordingly, the present petition is allowed and FIR No. 1 dated 03.01.2012 u/s 406, 498 IPC, Police Station Sirhind, District Fatehgarh Sahib (Annexure P-1) and subsequent proceedings arising out of the same are hereby quashed. Allowed in the aforesaid terms.