Kapil Dev Gupta vs The State & Another
1999 Latest Caselaw 1170 Del

ORDER

Cyriac Joseph, J.

1. This petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Proce- dure Code for quashing FIR No. 91/89 registered at Police Station Timar Pur and the proceedings arising from the said FIR and pending in the Court of Shri D.K. Bansal, Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi. The petitioner is the accused in the above mentioned FIR and respondent No. 2, Shri Mukesh Gupta is the complainant. In the said case charge has been framed against the accused under Sections 409/34 of the Indian Penal Code.

2. According to the averments in the petition the petitioner and respond- ent No. 2 have reached an amicable settlement and as per the said settle- ment the goods lying in the Police Station shall be the property of the petitioner and the petitioner and his family members shall transfer their share in the name of the other existing directors of the company.

3. A copy of the Compromise Deed, between the petitioner and respondent No. 2 has been produced as Annexure-D to the petition. Inspite of the compromise between the parties the case cannot be compounded before the trial court since the offence involved is non-compoundable. At the same time the complainant is not interested in proceedings with the criminal case against the petitioner or in prosecuting the petitioner for the of- fence mentioned above. Hence the petitioner has filed this petition under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code praying that the FIR and proceedings may be quashed to secure the ends of justice.

4. Respondent No. 2 Mr. Mukesh Gupta is present in the Court. He has been identified by his counsel Mr. Bharat Kumar Dubay.

5. Respondent No. 2 confirms that he has entered into an compromise with the petitioner as per Annexure-D, Compromise Deed. He also states that he is not interested in prosecuting the petitioner in the above mentioned case and that he has no objection to the quashing of the FIR and the proceed- ings. He further states that he himself wants the FIR and the proceedings to be quashed in order to save the time, energy and money of the parties and also to maintain and strengthen the personal relations of the parties.

6. Even though the offence involved in the case is a non-compoundable offence it will not affect the powers of the High Court under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. to quash the Criminal Proceedings if it is necessary to do so for securing the ends of justice. There is no point in wasting the precious time of the Court for conducting a trial which is bound to end up in acquittal due to the declared stand of the complainant. It is more so in the case of an offence like the offence under Section 409 IPC. When the victim of the alleged criminal breach of trust has settled the dispute and has no further grievance against the accused and wants the criminal proceedings to be dropped in the better interests of both the parties, this Court should not decline to exercise its power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code to help the process of compromise and reconcilia- tion between the parties. This Court has to consider whether any useful purpose will be served by the continuance of the criminal Proceedings against the accused in view of the stand taken by the complainant. The primary concern should be to secure the ends of justice and not to insist on a mechanical or ritualistic continuance of the trial unmindful or the waste of time and energy for a futile exercise. When the courts are over- burdened with a large number of pending cases, this Court need not hesitate to promote and approve reconciliation between the parties so long as it will not have any adverse effect on the society and the administration of justice. It will not be possible and desirable to quash the criminal Proceedings in every case on the ground that the complainant has no further grievance against the accused and the complainant is not interested in prosecuting the case. The request for quashing the proceedings should be considered with reference to the facts and circumstances of each case and with due regard to the impact and implications of such termination of the proceedings on the society and the administration of justice.

7. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of this case I am of the view that by the quashing of the proceedings arising out of the above mentioned FIR no prejudice will be caused to any individual or the society or the administration of justice. In my view it will only secure the ends of justice.

8. Hence FIR No. 91/89 registered at Police Station Timar Pur and the Criminal Proceedings arising out the said FIR are hereby quashed.

9. It will be open to the SHO of Police Station Timar Pur to return the goods to the party concerned in terms of the compromise between the par- ties.

10. Petition stands disposed of.

11. Copy of the order be given dasti.