Allahabad High Court
Sufiyan And 5 Others vs State Of U.P. And Another on 19 September, 2025
Author: Shekhar Kumar Yadav
Bench: Shekhar Kumar Yadav
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:168731
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 8127 of 2025
Sufiyan And 5 Others
.....Appellant(s)
Versus
State of U.P. and Another
.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Appellant(s)
:
Navnath Pandey, Udai Chandani
Counsel for Respondent(s)
:
G.A., Varunesh Shukl
Court No. - 83
HON'BLE SHEKHAR KUMAR YADAV, J.
1. Heard Mr Navnath Pandey, learned counsel for the appellants, Mr Varunesh Shukl, learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2 and learned A.G.A. for the State.
2. Supplementary affidavit has been filed today annexing therewith the copy of compromise verification report dated 18.09.2025 pursuant to order of this Court dated 10.09.2025 and the same is taken on record.
3. The parties before this Court had made a request that they have entered into a compromise in this matter and have settled all the disputes between them and now they do not want to proceed with this matter. It is further submitted that in compliance of the order of this court dated 10.09.2025, the compromise has been verified by the Special Judge SC/ST Act, Jaunpur vide order dated 18.09.2025. Further record discloses that the copy of verification report dated 18.09.2025 has also been filed by way of supplementary affidavit on record.
4. This criminal appeal under Section 14-A(1) SC/ST Act has been filed for quashing the entire proceedings of Criminal Case emanating from the impugned cognizance order dated 02.07.2020 as well as the impugned charge sheet No. 03 of 2020 dated 13.06.2020/14.06.2020 in Special Sessions Trial No. 230 of 2020, arising out of Case Crime No. 154 of 2020, under Sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 452, 323, 504, 506, 436, 427, 429, 34, 188, 269 IPC and Section 3(2)(5) of SC/ST Act, Section 3 of the prevention of Damages of Public Property Act and Section 3 of the Epidemic Act and Section 51 of Disaster Management Act, P.S. Saraikhwaja, District Jaunpur, pending in the court of Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Jaunpur.
5. Learned counsel for the appellants has submitted before this Court that the compromise entered into between the parties has been made without any coercion or undue influence upon the informant of this case and is a result of free will and consent of the parties.
6. It appears from perusal of the record that the present case is having a nature of purely private dispute and prima facie it also appears that the alleged offence has not been committed on account of the caste of the victim and except some offence under SC/ST Act, minor offences have been levelled against the accused. Further, the compromise between the parties is the result of free will and consent of the informant-opposite party no. 2 without any undue influence and this fact has not been disputed by the learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2.
7. Whether a compromise can be verified and accepted in a case relating to an offence under SC/ST Act has been answered in Ramawatar Vs. State of M.P. (2022) 13 SCC 635. Paragraph no. 17 of the said judgment is quoted herein below:-
"17. On the other hand, where it appears to the Court that the offence in question, although covered under the SC/ST Act, is primarily private or civil in nature, or where the alleged offence has not been committed on account of the caste of the victim, or where the continuation of the legal proceedings would be an abuse of the process of law, the Court can exercise its powers to quash the proceedings. On similar lines, when considering a prayer for quashing on the basis of a compromise/settlement, if the Court is satisfied that the underlying objective of the Act would not be contravened or diminished even if the felony in question goes unpunished, the mere fact that the offence is covered under a "special statute" would not refrain this Court or the High Court, from exercising their respective powers under Article 142 of the Constitution or Section 482 Cr.P.C."
9. It is further held in paragraph no. 19 of the said judgment which is quoted herein under:-
"19. We may hasten to add that in cases such as the present, the Courts ought to be even more vigilant to ensure that the complainant-victim has entered into the compromise on the volition of his/her free will and not on account of any duress. It cannot be understated that since members of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe belong to the weaker sections of our country, they are more prone to acts of coercion, and therefore ought to be accorded a higher level of protection. If the Courts find even a hint of compulsion or force, no relief can be given to the accused party. What factors the Courts should consider, would depend on the facts and circumstances of each case"
8. A perusal of the full Bench judgment in Ghulam Rasool Khan And Others vs State Of U.P And Another 2022 (8) ADJ 691 reveals that a matter under the SC/ST Act may be compounded in a criminal appeal under section 14-A(2) of SC/ST Act and there is no need to take recourse of U/s. 482 Cr.P.C. for the same.
9. This Court is not unmindful of the following judgements of the Apex Court: (i). B.S. Joshi and others Vs State of Haryana and another, (2003)4 SCC 675, (ii). Nikhil Merchant s Central Bureau of Investigation, (2008) 9 SCC 677, (iii). Manoj Sharma Vs State and others, (2008) 16 SCC 1, (iv). Gian Singh Vs State of Punjab, (2012); 10 SCC 303, (v). Narindra Singh and others Vs State of Punjab, ( 2014) 6 SCC 466, Naushey Ali and others Vs State of UP and another, (Criminal Appeal No. 660 of 2025 decided on 11.02.2025). In the aforesaid judgments, the Apex Court has categorically held that compromise can be made between the parties even in respect of certain cognizable and non compoundable offences.
10. In view of the aforesaid legal position, and since the parties have amicably resolved their dispute and the compromise has been duly verified, no useful purpose would be served by continuing the proceedings.
11. Hence, the entire proceedings of Criminal Case emanating from the impugned cognizance order dated 02.07.2020 as well as the impugned charge sheet No. 03 of 2020 dated 13.06.2020/14.06.2020 in Special Sessions Trial No. 230 of 2020, arising out of Case Crime No. 154 of 2020, under Sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 452, 323, 504, 506, 436, 427, 429, 34, 188, 269 IPC and Section 3(2)(5) of SC/ST Act, Section 3 of the prevention of Damages of Public Property Act and Section 3 of the Epidemic Act and Section 51 of Disaster Management Act, P.S. Saraikhwaja, District Jaunpur, pending in the court of Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Jaunpur is hereby quashed in respect of present appellants.
12. Accordingly, the present criminal appeal is disposed of in terms of compromise entered into by both the parties.
(Shekhar Kumar Yadav,J.)
September 19, 2025
RavindraKSingh
