Hariom and 3 Others v. State of U.P. and Another

Court No. - 91 Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 15541 of 2023 Applicant :- Hariom And 3 Others Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Istiyaq Ali,Ali Hasan Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Kamlesh Singh Hon'ble Gajendra Kumar,J.

¶1Heard learned counsel for the applicants and Shri Kamlesh Singh, learned counsel for the opposite party nos.2 as well as learned AGA for the state.

¶2This application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed with the prayer to quash the entire criminal proceedings of Criminal Case No.2350 of 2011 (State Vs. Hariom), arising out of Case Crime No.399 of 2008, under sections 498A, 323, 504, 506 IPC, 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station Etmadpur, District Agra pending in the court of learned 4th Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Agra including the cognizance order dated 13.11.2009 passed by learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No.13, Agra and order dated 3.10.2012 passed by learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No.9, Agra framing charges against the applicants for an offence under the aforesaid section on the basis of compromise dated 17.01.2023.

¶3Pursuant to order dated 28.04.2023, the parties appeared before the court below for verification of settlement/ compromise, who were duly identified by their counsel's, while verifying the compromise / settlement dated 25.05.2023.

¶4It is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that all the disputes and differences have been settled between the parties. At this stage, learned counsel further submitted that continuation of the proceedings of the aforesaid case will be an abuse of process of law. No fruitful purpose would be served by keeping the matter pending. In support of his contention, learned counsel for the applicant has also placed reliance on the law laid down by Apex Court in Gian Singh vs. State of Punjab, (2012), 10 SCC 303, B.S. Joshi and others vs. State of Haryana and another, (2003) 4 SCC 675 and Madan Mohan Abbot vs. State of Punjab, (2008) 4 SCC 582.

¶5On the other hand, learned counsel for the opposite party no.2 submits that since the dispute between the parties has been settled, opposite party no.2 has no objection if the proceedings of the aforesaid complaint case pending before the trial court is quashed.

¶6I have considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the entire record.

¶7In all the aforesaid cases, the Apex Court has laid down the law that criminal proceedings may be quashed even in non-compoundable cases by the High Court in exercise of its inherent extraordinary jurisdiction to restore peace between the parties and in case the justice so demands. According to Hon'ble Supreme Court, if the offence involve private dispute between the parties of commercial nature or matrimonial dispute and it is not related to heinous offence, the proceedings may be quashed.

¶8The facts and circumstances as stated hereinabove are peculiar in the present case. From perusal of the record, it is apparent that the matter is related to matrimonial dispute. Nothing overt act has been done with her and as of now the matter has been mutually compromised between the parties. As such, looking to the facts and circumstances of the case, no mental depravity is involved in the case. If the request of the parties is denied, it will be amounting to only adding one more criminal case to the already overburdened criminal courts.

¶9Since the dispute between the parties has been amicably and mutually settled, no fruitful purpose would be served by permitting to continue the criminal case pending before the trial court and it would simply be a waste of time if the aforesaid case is permitted to continue till its logical conclusion.

¶10In view of the above, the Application u/s 482 Cr.P.C. is allowed.

¶11The entire proceedings of Criminal Case No.2350 of 2011 (State Vs. Hariom), arising out of Case Crime No.399 of 2008, under sections 498A, 323, 504, 506 IPC, 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station Etmadpur, District Agra pending in the court of learned 4th Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Agra including the cognizance order dated 13.11.2009 passed by learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No.13, Agra and order dated 3.10.2012 passed by learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No.9, Agra against the applicants are hereby quashed in terms of the compromise arrived at between the parties. Order Date :- 18.10.2023/SFH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad