Kaushlender & Ors vs The State & Anr.
2016 Latest Caselaw 1309 Del

*   IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+   CRL.M.C. 4741/2015
                                  Date of Decision : February 19th, 2016
    KAUSHLENDER & ORS                                     ..... Petitioners
                Through                 Mr.A.K. Srivastava, Adv.

                         versus

    THE STATE & ANR.                                      ..... Respondents
                  Through               Ms.Meenakshi Chauhan, APP for the
                                        State with SI Gopal, PS Shakar Pur.

           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, Kaushlender, Shyam Narayan and

Chandrika Devi for quashing of FIR No.55/2000 dated 15.02.2000,

under Sections 498A/406 IPC registered at Police Station Shakarpur

on the basis of the settlement arrived at in the Family Court, East,

Vishwas Nagar, Counselling Cell, Delhi between the petitioner no.1

and respondent No.2, namely, Seema Devi on 08.09.2014.

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 Shri Gopal.

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

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

17.06.1994 according to Hindu rites and customs. The complainant

was harassed by the accused persons for dowry after the marriage. As

the parents of the complainant were very poor, the in-laws of the

complainant used to taunt her, beat her and harass her for the same.

When the complainant showed her inability to fulfill the demands of

her in-laws and husband, on 08.06.1995, the complainant was thrown

out her matrimonial home after she was beaten up and her in-laws

kept her entire jewellery and valuable articles with them. The

complainant was at her parental home till 04.02.1999 and she went to

her matrimonial home on 05.02.1999 and a settlement agreement was

executed on 02.02.1999 by Shyam Narain Singh. But the accused

persons against started beating the complainant after a few days. The

accused persons gave beatings to the complainant from 28.04.1999 till

05.05.1999 regularly and ultimately turned out the complainant on

05.05.1999.

Thereafter, the respondent no.2/complainant lodged a complaint

against the petitioners in the CAW Cell, Delhi and on her complaint,

the FIR in question was registered. The matter was referred for

conciliation before the Counselling Cell, Vishwas Nagar, Delhi where

both the parties arrived at an amicable settlement.

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

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

settlement, it has been agreed between the parties that they shall take

divorce by way of mutual consent within the jurisdiction of Delhi

Court. It is agreed that petitioner no.1 shall pay a sum of Rs. 3.5

Lakhs as full and final settlement (against istridhan and dowry,

maintenance towards past, present and future qua this marriage and

nothing shall remain due qua this marriage). The schedule of payment

of the above mentioned settlement amount would be as laid out in the

settlement report. It is agreed that the custody of the child shall

remain with respondent no.2 and that petitioner no.1 would have no

visitation rights in future. It is further agreed that the petitioner no.1

would pay a sum of Rs. 1 lacs to respondent no.2 at the time of

withdrawal of the petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C., filed by her,

from the Court concerned. It is agreed that respondent no.2 shall

cooperate with the petitioner no.1 in getting the FIR in question

quashed before this Court. It is further agreed that respondent no.2

shall withdraw the case which is pending before the concerned Family

Court. Respondent No.2 affirmed the contents of the aforesaid

settlement and of her affidavit dated 23.10.2015 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 of FIR No.55/2000

dated 15.02.2000, under Sections 498A/406 IPC registered at Police

Station Shakarpur 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