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Judgment
Jaswant Singh, J.—Prayer is u/s 482 Cr.PC for quashing of FIR No. 16 dated 22.01.2010 under Sections 406 and 498A of Indian Penal Code registered with Police Station Sector 39, Chandigarh on the basis of compromise (P2) dated 28.01.2010 arrived at between the parties.
As per the allegations levelled by the complainant, Petitioner No. 1(husband), Petitioner No. 2 Nishar(father-in-law) and Petitioner No. 3 Sanjida(mother-in-law) used to harass and maltreat the Shabnam on account of bringing insufficient dowry as per the demands of the Petitioners.
Upon notice Respondent No. 2-Babu Khan i.e. father of Shabnam appeared and filed his affidavit. He has been identified by his counsel.
Respondent No. 2 has filed an affidavit stating therein that complainant Shabnam his daughter who had lodged the present FIR had died on account of Cancer in PGI, Chandigarh. He further states he has compromise the matter with the Petitioners with the intervention of respectable persons and had received the entire articles given as dowry articles the time of marriage of his deceased daughter and nothing remains to be recovered. He further states that he admits the contents of his affidavit filed in the court today wherein it is stated that the complainant party does not wish to pursue the prosecution of the Petitioner and have no objection if the FIR and all subsequent proceedings are quashed.
Learned Counsel for UT is unable to raise any serious objection in view of the aforesaid compromise wherein the complainant party is not willing to support the prosecution case.
A Full Bench of this Court in Kulwinder Singh and Ors. v. State of Punjab and Anr. 2007(3) RCR 1052 has held that this Court, in appropriate cases, while exercising powers u/s 482 Cr.P.C., may quash an FIR disclosing the commission of non-compoundable offences. The relevant extracts read as under :
The only inevitable conclusion from the above discussion is that there is no statutory bar under the Cr.P.C., which can affect the inherent power of this Court u/s 482. Further, the same cannot be limited to matrimonial cases alone and the Court has the wide power to quash the proceedings even in non-compoundable offences notwithstanding the bar u/s 320 of the Cr.P.C., in order to prevent the abuse of law and to secure the ends of justice.
Similar views were expressed by Hon''ble the Apex Court in Madan Mohan Abbot Vs. State of Punjab, , the relevant extract of which is as under :
We need to emphasise 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 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.
Keeping in view the above settled legal position and taking into account personal nature of dispute and the fact that both the parties have desired to live in peace and harmony and carry on with their lives without any ill will or rancour by resolving their differences and entering into the aforesaid compromise, it is evident that it is a fit case where there is no legal impediment in the way of the Court to exercise its inherent powers u/s 482 Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing of the FIR in the interest of justice.
Accordingly, the present petition is allowed and FIR No. 16 dated 22.01.2010 under Sections 406 and 498A of Indian Penal Code registered with Police Station Sector 39, Chandigarh as well as the subsequent proceedings arising therefrom are quashed against the Petitioners.