Gujarat High Court
Mehul Navdhanbhai Bharwad vs State Of Gujarat on 7 July, 2025
Author: Nirzar S. Desai
Bench: Nirzar S. Desai
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR QUASHING & SET ASIDE
FIR/ORDER) NO. 3506 of 2025
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MEHUL NAVDHANBHAI BHARWAD
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR.
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Appearance:
Z L KHAN(7966) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR ANKIT V DIXIT(10019) for the Respondent(s) No. 2
MR HARDIK MEHTA, PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NIRZAR S. DESAI
Date : 07/07/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. Heard, the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties.
1.1 Learned advocate, Mr. U.A. Malik, states that he appears for the original victim girl. He is permitted to file his appearance.
2. Rule. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor as well as learned advocates appearing for the Complainant and the original victim-girl waive service of rule on behalf of the respective respondents.
3. Considering the issue involved in the present application and with the consent of the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties as well as considering Page 1 of 9 Uploaded by UMESH H. CHAVDA(HC00203) on Wed Jul 09 2025 Downloaded on : Wed Jul 09 21:58:23 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025 undefined the fact that the dispute between the applicant and the victim-girl has been resolved amicably, this application is taken up for final disposal, forthwith.
4. By way of this application, filed under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as "BNSS"), the applicant has prayed for quashing and setting aside the F.I.R., bearing No. 11216011240636 of 2024, registered with Infocity Police Station, Gandhinagar, under Section 137(2) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, as well as all other consequential proceedings arising out of the aforesaid FIR, qua the applicant.
5. Learned advocate for the applicant has taken this Court through the factual matrix arising out of the present application. At the outset, it is submitted that the applicant and the victim have amicably resolved the dispute and therefore, any further continuance of the proceedings pursuant to the impugned FIR as well as any further proceedings arising therefrom would create hardship to the applicant. It is submitted that the victim has filed an affidavit in these proceedings and has declared that the dispute between the applicant and her is resolved due to intervention of trusted persons of the society and on attaining majority, she has also got married with the applicant on 07.01.2025. Certificate of registration of Page 2 of 9 Uploaded by UMESH H. CHAVDA(HC00203) on Wed Jul 09 2025 Downloaded on : Wed Jul 09 21:58:23 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025 undefined marriage has also been produced on record vide Annexure- C. 5.1 Learned Advocate for the applicant also invited the attention of this Court to the order dated 17.01.2025, passed by the Division Bench of this Court in Special Criminal Application (Habeas Corpus) No. 17251 of 2024 and submitted that in the said matter, the Division Bench has noted that the corpus, i.e. the victim girl, has accepted the present applicant as her husband and therefore, after ascertaining her wish, the victim girl was permitted to go with the present applicant.
5.2 By making the above submissions it was submitted that in view of the fact that the dispute is resolved between the victim and the applicant, the trial would be futile and any further continuance of the proceedings would amount to abuse of process of law. It is therefore submitted that this Court may exercise its inherent powers and allow the application as prayed for.
6. Learned Advocate, Mr. Malik, appearing for the victim- girl reiterated the contentions raised by the learned advocate for the applicant. The learned advocate for the victim also relied upon the affidavit filed by the victim girl, Dated: 04.02.2025, which is produced separately. The victim girl is present in person before the Court and is duly Page 3 of 9 Uploaded by UMESH H. CHAVDA(HC00203) on Wed Jul 09 2025 Downloaded on : Wed Jul 09 21:58:23 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025 undefined identified by learned advocate, Mr. Malik. On inquiry made by the Court, the victim-girl has declared before this Court that the dispute between the applicant and her is resolved and they have got married and at present, she is pregnant. It is therefore submitted that the present application may be allowed.
7. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the State, in view of the above, prayed that this Court may pass the appropriate orders.
8. However, learned Advocate, Mr. Dixit, appearing for Respondent No.2 - original complainant strongly opposed this petition and submitted that the same may be dismissed. It was submitted that in view of the fact that the victim girl is, at present, made pregnant by the applicant, she was left with no other choice, but, to marry the applicant.
8.1 It was submitted that when the applicant had abducted the victim-girl, she was not major and therefore, the impugned FIR, which is registered under Section 137(2) of the BNS, by Respondent No.2 is very serious in nature and this Court may not exercise discretion in favour of the applicant.
8.2 It was, further, submitted that after the impugned FIR Page 4 of 9 Uploaded by UMESH H. CHAVDA(HC00203) on Wed Jul 09 2025 Downloaded on : Wed Jul 09 21:58:23 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025 undefined came to be lodged on 19.12.2024, the applicant had been absconding and he came to be arrested only in June, 2025. It was, therefore, prayed that looking to the conduct of the applicant, even if, the victim-girl has got married with him, this Court may not quash the impugned FIR and this application be dismissed.
8.3 In support of his submission, learned Advocate, Mr. Dixit, placed reliance on the decision of the Hon'ble Apex Court dated 07.11.2024, rendered in the case of 'Ramji Lal Bairwa & Another Vs. State of Rajasthan & Others' in Criminal Appeal No. 3403 of 2023, more particularly the observations made at Paragraph-32 thereof, where, the Hon'ble Apex Court, while referring to the decisions in the case of 'Gian Singh' and in 'Laxmi Narayan' in unambiguous terms has held that the power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure could not be used to quash proceedings based on compromise, if, it is in respect of heinous offences, which are not private in nature and which have serious impact on the society. It was, thereby, submitted that though the victim-girl has got married with the applicant on 07.01.2025, this Court may not quash the impugned FIR.
8.4 Learned Advocate, Mr. Dixit, next pressed into service the decision of the Coordinate Bench of this Court dated 25.04.2025, rendered in the case of 'Jagdish @ Jago Page 5 of 9 Uploaded by UMESH H. CHAVDA(HC00203) on Wed Jul 09 2025 Downloaded on : Wed Jul 09 21:58:23 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025 undefined Parsottambhai Makwana Vs. State of Gujarat & Others' in Criminal Misc. Application (For Quashing and Set Aside FIR/Order) No. 3552 of 2025, wherein, also the Coordinate Bench did not permit the quashing of the FIR on the basis of settlement arrived at between the parties. It was, thus, prayed that this petition be dismissed.
9. I have heard the learned the learned Advocates for the parties and also perused the material on record and though, I am conscious of the ratio laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of 'Ramji Lal Bairwa & Another' (Supra) that the powers under Section 482 of the Code cannot be used to quash the proceedings based on a compromise between the parties, if, it pertains to a heinous crime and the dispute is not of private nature and it is likely to have a great impact on the society, as a whole. Further, in Paragraph-32 of the very same judgment, the Hon'ble Apex Court has also observed that when an incident of the aforesaid nature and gravity allegedly occurred in a higher secondary school, that too from a teacher, it cannot be simply described as an offence, which is purely private in nature and have no serious impact on the society.
9.1 Here, it may be noted that the aforesaid observations were made by the Hon'ble Apex Court, keeping in mind the fact that the accused was a teacher and the victim was a student, whereas, in the instant case, the victim-girl was Page 6 of 9 Uploaded by UMESH H. CHAVDA(HC00203) on Wed Jul 09 2025 Downloaded on : Wed Jul 09 21:58:23 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025 undefined about 17 years, 11 months and 19 days of age, at the time of incident, i.e. she was just a few days short in attaining the majority. In any case, the victim-girl was mature enough to know the consequences of her action, i.e. eloping with the applicant. It may also be taken into consideration that as soon as the victim-girl attained majority, the applicant got married with her on 07.01.2025. Today also, when this Court put a specific query to the victim-girl with regard to marrying the applicant, she, in no unclear terms, stated that she got married with the applicant out of her own wish and will. This Court is also conscious of the fact that in the habeas corpus petition filed by the father of the victim-girl, i.e. Special Criminal Application (Habeas Corpus) No. 17251 of 2024, when the Division Bench of this Court tried to ascertain the wish of the victim-girl, she had stated that she wish to go with the present applicant and not with her father, i.e. Respondent No.2, herein.
9.2 Under the circumstances, when the victim-girl has got married with the applicant, they have been residing together happily as husband and wife as well as the fact that the victim-girl is at present pregnant and therefore, merely because the father of the victim-girl, i.e. Respondent No.2, is not ready to settle the dispute with the applicant, this petition cannot be dismissed. In view of the above discussion, the decision of the Hon'ble Apex Court as well as of this Court relied on by the learned Advocate, Mr. Dixit, Page 7 of 9 Uploaded by UMESH H. CHAVDA(HC00203) on Wed Jul 09 2025 Downloaded on : Wed Jul 09 21:58:23 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025 undefined appearing for Respondent No.2 shall not apply to the facts of the case on hand and this petition deserves to be allowed.
9.3 Moreover, taking into consideration the decisions rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the cases of 'Gian Singh Vs. State of Punjab & Anr.', reported in (2012) 10 SCC 303, 'Madan Mohan Abbot Vs. State of Punjab', reported in (2008) 4 SCC 582, 'Nikhil Merchant Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr.', reported in 2009 (1) GLH 31, 'Manoj Sharma Vs. State & Ors.', reported in 2009 (1) GLH 190 and 'Narinder Singh & Ors. Vs. State of Punjab & Anr.', reported in 2014 (2) Crime 67 (SC), it appears that further continuation of criminal proceedings in relation to the impugned FIR against the applicant would be unnecessary harassment to the applicant. I have also considered the latest decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of 'Parbatbhai Aahir @ Parbatbhai Bhimsinhbhai Karmur and others v. State of Gujarat', Criminal Appeal No.1723 of 2017, dated 4.10.2017 and the guidelines issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the said decision, particularly Paragraph-15, thereof. Considering the nature of disputes between the parties which are all private in nature, I am of the opinion that the matter requires consideration. It appears that the trial would be futile and further continuance of the proceedings pursuant to the impugned FIR would amount to abuse of process of law and hence, to secure the ends of justice, the impugned Page 8 of 9 Uploaded by UMESH H. CHAVDA(HC00203) on Wed Jul 09 2025 Downloaded on : Wed Jul 09 21:58:23 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/3506/2025 ORDER DATED: 07/07/2025 undefined FIR is required to be quashed and set aside in exercise of powers conferred under Section 482 of the Code.
10. Resultantly, this application is ALLOWED and the impugned F.I.R., bearing No. 11216011240636 of 2024, registered with Infocity Police Station, Gandhinagar, is hereby quashed and set aside qua the applicant only. Consequently, all other proceedings arising out of the aforesaid F.I.R. are also quashed and set aside qua the applicant. It shall be open to the applicant to produce this order before the appropriate authority for passing the necessary orders. Accordingly, Rule is made absolute. Direct service is permitted.
(NIRZAR S. DESAI,J) UMESH/-
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