Allahabad High Court
Dharmendra @ Dharmendra Chauhan vs State Of U.P. And Another on 9 July, 2025
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:109183
Court No. - 79
Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 16663 of 2024
Applicant :- Dharmendra @ Dharmendra Chauhan
Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another
Counsel for Applicant :- Sanjeev Kumar Singh
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Saurabh Shukla
Hon'ble Prashant Kumar,J.
1. Heard Sri S.K. Singh, learned counsel for applicant, learned A.G.A. for the State-respondent no.1 and perused the record.
2. The present application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed for quashing of chargesheet 23.12.2023, cognizance order dated 29.01.2024 as well as entire proceedings in Criminal Case No.594 of 2024, arising out of Case Crime No.0710 of 2023 under Section 376, 504, 506 IPC, P.S. Bansgaon, District-Gorakhpur or to stay further proceedings of the aforesaid case during pendency of the application.
3. In the instant matter, an F.I.R. was lodged by O.P. no.2 on 17.11.2023 under section 376, 504, 506 I.P.C. wherein it is alleged that when the informant was residing at her maternal uncle's house, she came into contact with one Dharmendra @ Dharmendra Chauhan and physical relation was established between them. Thereafter, even though the informant returned to her home, the applicant started to come there and also made physical relation with her on false pretext of marriage.
4. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant and O.P. no.2 were having love affair and after the victim attained age of majority, he has solemnized marriage with her on 11.03.2024 at Baba Baleshwar Nath Mandir and certificate of marriage issued by the temple has been annexed as Annexure -5 to this application. He submits that photographs of their marriage has also been annexed as Annexure-6. He next submits that after their marriage, the victim and the applicant are residing together and they have also applied for registration of their marriage on 18.03.2024, copy of the application thereof has been annexed as Annexure 7 to this application. He next submits that O.P. no.2 did not want to pursue this matter anymore. In the supplementary affidavit filed on behalf of the applicant, the aforesaid fact of marriage has been reiterated and also stated that the victim/O.P. no.2 is residing with the applicant in his house, so she filed an application for withdrawal of the criminal case on 24.04.2024 on the basis of compromise and this Court vide order dated 24.04.2024 directed the trial court to verify the compromise, which has been verified by the court below vide order dated 20.07.2024, copy whereof has been filed as Annexure-1 to the supplementary affidavit. In the aforesaid backdrop, learned counsel for the applicant submits that once the applicant has married the victim and also applied for its registration and both the parties are living together as husband and wife and they have entered into a compromise, which is verified by the court below, the criminality, if any, committed by applicant shall now stand washed off. On the above conspectus, learned counsel for the applicant submits that criminal prosecution of applicant is liable to be quashed as if the criminal prosecution of applicant is allowed to continue, a happy family shall stand broken.
5. Per contra, learned A.G.A. has though initially opposed the present application on the premise that the victim was minor on the date of occurrence, therefore, subsequent developments, if any, will not wipe out the criminality committed by the applicant as suggested by the learned counsel for applicant, therefore, no interference is warranted by this Court in the instant matter. However, he could not dislodge the factual and legal submissions urged by the learned counsel for applicant with reference to the record at this stage.
6. Heard the submission advanced by learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
7. It transpires from the record that in the light of marriage having taken place between the victim and the accused/applicant, more particularly, there being an application for registration of marriage, shows that the couple are leading a happy marital life. In the teeth of these facts, glaring enough they are, if the Court would shut its doors to the couple who are married, the entire proceeding would result in miscarriage of justice. As such, no useful purpose shall be served in prolonging the criminal prosecution of accused/applicant.
8. On account of the facts as noted above, the chances of conviction of accused/applicant is now not only remote but also bleak in view of the compromise entered into by the parties. As such, in case the criminal prosecution of applicant is allowed to continue, a happy family comprising of accused/applicant and victim shall stand broken.
9. At this juncture, reference be made to the judgement of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Dasari Srikanth vs. State of Telangana, 2024 Live Law (SC) 391 wherein the Court has held in para No.8 as under:
"8. Since, the appellant and the complainant have married each other, the affirmation of the judgment rendered by the High Court would have the disastrous consequence on the accused appellant being sent to jail which in turn could put his matrimonial relationship with the complainant in danger."
10. The Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of State of Madhya Pradesh Vs. Laxmi Narayan and others, (2019) 5 SCC 688 has laid down principle for quashing the proceeding on the basis of settlement/compromise.
11. The ratio laid down by the Apex Court in aforementioned judgements is squarely applicable to the present case as applicant has solemnized marriage with the victim and compromise has also arrived at between the parties, which has been verified by the concerned trial court.
12. In view of the aforesaid facts, since the applicant has married the victim and the parties have amicably settled their dispute before the trial court, the present Application U/S 482 Cr.P.C. is liable to be allowed.
13. Accordingly, the present Application U/S 482 Cr.P.C. is allowed and the criminal proceeding against applicant in Criminal Case No.594 of 2024 arising out of Case Crime No.0710 of 2023 under section 376, 504, 506 IPC inlcuding charge sheet dated 23.12.2023 and summoning/cognizance order dated 29.01.2024, is hereby quashed.
Order Date :- 9.7.2025
Manish Himwan
