Naveen Sharma And Anr vs The State & Anr
2016 Latest Caselaw 1299 Del

*   IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+   CRL.M.C. 4914/2015
                                  Date of Decision : February 19th, 2016

    NAVEEN SHARMA AND ANR                                  ..... Petitioners

                         Through        Mrf.Manmeet Singh, Adv.

                         versus

    THE STATE & ANR                                        ..... Respondent

                         Through        Mr.Rajatg Kaytal, APP for the State
                                        with SI Pankaj Kumar, PS Mayapuri.

           CORAM:
           HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE P.S.TEJI

    P.S.TEJI, J.

1. The present petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed

by the petitioners, namely, Naveen Sharma and Smt. Madhubala

Sharma for quashing of FIR No.461/2014 dated 14.10.2014, under

Sections 498A/406/34 IPC registered at Police Station Maya Puri on

the basis of the compromise deed arrived at between the petitioner

no.1 and respondent No.2, namely, Ms. Shalini Sharma on

06.12.2014.

2. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor for respondent-State

submitted that the respondent No.2, present in the Court has been

identified to be the complainant/first-informant of the FIR in question

by SI Pankaj Kumar.

3. The factual matrix of the present case is that the marriage

between the petitioner no.1 and respondent no.2 was solemnized on

23.11.2005 according to Hindu rites and ceremonies. The behavior of

the husband of the complainant was very cruel and hostile towards the

complainant. When the complainant told about the same to her

mother-in-law, she also started harassing her and started to pressurize

her for dowry. The petitioner no.1 is alleged to be having affair with

other girls. After some years of marriage, when no child was born out

of the wedlock, on medical test it was discovered that the husband of

the complainant was an impotent. On 25.05.2014, when complainant

reached Swaziland to be with her husband, he insisted that they

should embrace Islam as their religion and when she denied the same,

she was beaten up by the petitioner no.1. On 06.06.2014, the

complainant reached her matrimonial home and found that the house

was locked. Then seeing no other option, the complainant went to her

parental home.

Subsequently, respondent no.2 filed a complaint before the

CAW Cell, Delhi against the petitioners which resulted into

registration of the FIR in question. The respondent no.2 has also filed

a petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C. which stands withdrawn and

under D.V.Act which stands dismissed for non-prosecution. Later on,

the parties arrived at an amicable settlement on 06.12.2014

4. Respondent No.2, present in the Court, submitted that the

dispute between the parties has been amicably resolved. As per the

compromise deed, the petitioner no.1 agreed to pay the respondent

no.2 an amount of Rs. 20,50,000/- and all her jewellery articles which

were given to her by her parents, her in-laws and relatives. It has been

further agreed that the respondent no.2 shall not claim any amount

from the petitioner no.1 in lieu of her past, present and future

maintenance after the realization of the above mentioned amount and

jewellery. The parties further agreed to file for a divorce by way of

mutual consent. The petitioner no.1 has further agreed that he will not

back out from the terms and conditions of the said settlement and in

case of violation, the respondent no.2 has a right to not only continue

the legal cases and the FIR in question but she can also initiate the

proceedings for criminal breach of trust and will recover an amount of

Rs. 35 lacs and the entire jewellery along with the litigation expenses

and maintenance for herself. The petitioner no.1 agreed to return all

the articles to respondent no.2 on 08.12.2014 along with a cheque in

the name of the respondent no.2 for an amount of Rs. 6.5 lacs and the

remaining amount shall be paid as enunciated in the said deed. In the

event of dishonor of the cheques, the respondent no.2 has a right to

initiate the proceedings under Section 138 N.I.Act against the

petitioner no.1. The respondent no.2 has agreed to withdraw all the

cases/complaints filed against the petitioner no.1 and his family

members after the second motion of divorce. Both the parties further

agreed not to initiate any civil/criminal proceedings against each other

after the said settlement. It has also been agreed between the parties

that the petitioner no.1 shall file a quashing petition for quashing the

FIR in question. Respondent No.2 affirmed the contents of the

aforesaid settlement and of her affidavit dated 30.11.2015 supporting

this petition. In the affidavit, the respondent no.2 has stated that she

has no objection if the FIR in question is quashed. All the disputes

and differences have been resolved through mutual consent. Now no

dispute with petitioners survives and so, the proceedings arising out of

the FIR in question be brought to an end. Statement of the respondent

No.2 has been recorded in this regard in which she stated that she has

entered into a compromise with the petitioners and has settled all the

disputes with them. She further stated that she has no objection if the

FIR in question is quashed.

5. In Gian Singh v. State of Punjab (2012) 10 SCC 303 Apex

Court has recognized the need of amicable resolution of disputes in

cases like the instant one, by observing as under:-

"61. In other words, the High Court must consider whether it would be unfair or contrary to the interest of justice to continue with the criminal proceedings or continuation of criminal proceedings would tantamount to abuse of process of law despite settlement and compromise between the victim and the wrongdoer and whether to secure the ends of justice, it is appropriate that criminal case is put to an end and if the answer to the above question(s) is in the affirmative, the High Court shall be well within its jurisdiction to quash the criminal proceedings."

6. The aforesaid dictum stands reiterated by the Apex Court in a

recent judgment in Narinder Singh v. State of Punjab (2014) 6 SCC

466. The relevant observations of the Apex Court in Narinder Singh

(Supra) are as under:-

"29. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we sum up and lay down the following principles by which the High Court would be guided in giving adequate treatment to the settlement between the parties and

exercising its power under Section 482 of the Code while accepting the settlement and quashing the proceedings or refusing to accept the settlement with direction to continue with the criminal proceedings: 29.1 Power conferred under Section 482 of the Code is to be distinguished from the power which lies in the Court to compound the offences under Section 320 of the Code. No doubt, under Section 482 of the Code, the High Court has inherent power to quash the criminal proceedings even in those cases which are not compoundable, where the parties have settled the matter between themselves. However, this power is to be exercised sparingly and with caution.

29.2. When the parties have reached the settlement and on that basis petition for quashing the criminal proceedings is filed, the guiding factor in such cases would be to secure:

(i) ends of justice, or

(ii) to prevent abuse of the process of any court. While exercising the power the High Court is to form an opinion on either of the aforesaid two objectives.

29.3. Such a power is not to be exercised in those prosecutions which involve heinous and serious offences of mental depravity or offences like murder, rape, dacoity, etc. Such offences are not private in nature and have a serious impact on society. Similarly, for the offences alleged to have been committed under special statute like the Prevention of Corruption Act or the offences committed by public servants while working in that capacity are not to be quashed merely on the basis of compromise between the victim and the offender.

29.4. On the other hand, those criminal cases having overwhelmingly and predominantly civil character, particularly those arising out of commercial transactions or arising out of matrimonial relationship

or family disputes should be quashed when the parties have resolved their entire disputes among themselves.

7. The inherent powers of the High Court ought to be exercised to

prevent the abuse of process of law and to secure the ends of justice.

The respondent no.2 agrees to the quashing of the FIR in question

without any threat or coercion or undue influence and has stated that

the matter has been settled out of her own free will. As the matter has

been settled and compromised amicably, so, there would be an

extraordinary delay in the process of law if the legal proceedings

between the parties are carried on. So, this Court is of the considered

opinion that this is a fit case to invoke the jurisdiction under Section

482 Cr.P.C. to prevent the abuse of process of law and to secure the

ends of justice.

8. The incorporation of inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C.

is meant to deal with the situation in the absence of express provision

of law to secure the ends of justice such as, where the process is

abused or misused; where the ends of justice cannot be secured;

where the process of law is used for unjust or unlawful object; to

avoid the causing of harassment to any person by using the provision

of Cr.P.C. or to avoid the delay of the legal process in the delivery of

justice. Whereas, the inherent power is not to be exercised to

circumvent the express provisions of law.

9. It is settled law that the inherent power of the High Court under

Section 482 Cr.P.C. should be used sparingly. The Hon'ble Apex

Court in the case of State of Maharashtra through CBI v. Vikram

Anatrai Doshi and Ors. MANU/SC/0842/2014 and in the case of

Inder Singh Goswami v. State of Uttaranchal MANU/SC/0808/2009

has observed that powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. must be

exercised sparingly, carefully and with great caution. Only when the

Court comes to the conclusion that there would be manifest injustice

or there would be abuse of the process of the Court if such power is

not exercised, Court would quash the proceedings.

10. It is a well settled law that where the High Court is convinced

that the offences are entirely personal in nature and therefore do not

affect public peace or tranquillity and where it feels that quashing of

such proceedings on account of compromise would bring about peace

and would secure ends of justice, it should not hesitate to quash them.

In such cases, pursuing prosecution would be waste of time and

energy. Non-compoundable offences are basically an obstruction in

entering into compromise. In certain cases, the main offence is

compoundable but the connected offences are not. In the case of B.S.

Joshi and others v. State of Haryana and another 2003 (4) SCC 675

the Hon'ble Apex Court observed that even though the provisions of

Section 320 Cr.P.C. would not apply to such offences which are not

compoundable, it did not limit or affect the powers under Section 482

Cr.P.C. The Hon'ble Apex Court laid down that if for the purpose of

securing the ends of justice, quashing of FIR becomes necessary,

section 320 Cr.P.C. would not be a bar to the exercise of power of

quashing. In the nutshell, the Hon'ble Apex Court justified the

exercise of powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash the

proceedings to secure the ends of justice in view of the special facts

and circumstances of the case, even where the offences were non-

compoundable.

In the light of the aforesaid, this Court is of the view that

notwithstanding the fact the offence under Section 498A IPC is a non-

compoundable offence, there should be no impediment in quashing

the FIR under this section, if the Court is otherwise satisfied that the

facts and circumstances of the case so warrant.

11. The Courts in India are now normally taking the view that

endeavour should be taken to promote conciliation and secure speedy

settlement of disputes relating to marriage and family affairs such as,

matrimonial disputes between the couple or/and between the wife and

her in-laws. India being a vast country naturally has large number of

married persons resulting into high numbers of matrimonial disputes

due to differences in temperament, life-styles, opinions, thoughts etc.

between such couples, due to which majority is coming to the Court to

get redressal. In its 59th report, the Law Commission of India had

emphasized that while dealing with disputes concerning the family,

the Court ought to adopt an approach radically different from that

adopted in ordinary civil proceedings and that it should make

reasonable efforts at settlement before the commencement of the trial.

Further it is also the constitutional mandate for speedy disposal of

such disputes and to grant quick justice to the litigants. But, our

Courts are already over burdened due to pendency of large number of

cases because of which it becomes difficult for speedy disposal of

matrimonial disputes alone. As the matrimonial disputes are mainly

between the husband and the wife and personal matters are involved

in such disputes, so, it requires conciliatory procedure to bring a

settlement between them. Nowadays, mediation has played a very

important role in settling the disputes, especially, matrimonial

disputes and has yielded good results. The Court must exercise its

inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to put an end to the

matrimonial litigations at the earliest so that the parties can live

peacefully.

12. Since the subject matter of this FIR is essentially matrimonial,

which now stands mutually and amicably settled between the parties,

therefore, continuance of proceedings arising out of the FIR in

question would be an exercise in futility and is a fit case for this Court

to exercise its inherent jurisdiction.

13. In the facts and circumstances of this case, in view of statement

made by the respondent No.2 and the compromise arrived at between

the parties, the FIR in question warrants to be put to an end and

proceedings emanating thereupon need to be quashed.

14. Accordingly, this petition is allowed and FIR No.461/2014

dated 14.10.2014, under Sections 498A/406/34 IPC registered at

Police Station Maya Puri and the proceedings emanating therefrom

are quashed against the petitioners.

15. This petition is accordingly disposed of.

(P.S.TEJI) JUDGE FEBRUARY 19, 2016 dd