Punjab-Haryana High Court
Mohinder Singh @ Soni And Others vs State Of Punjab And Others on 7 February, 2022
CRM-M-41794-2021 -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH
(245)
CRM-M-41794-2021
Date of decision: - 07.02.2022
Mohinder Singh @ Soni and others
....Petitioners
Versus
State of Punjab and others
.....Respondents
CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIKAS BAHL
Present:- Mr. H.P.S. Ghuman, Advocate,
for the petitioners.
Mr. Karanbir Singh, AAG, Punjab.
Mr. Naveen Kumar, Advocate
for respondent Nos.2 and 3.
( Through Video Conferencing )
****
VIKAS BAHL, J. (ORAL)
This is a petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C. for
quashing of FIR No.19 dated 25.02.2020, registered under Sections 452,
354, 427, 323, 506, 148 and 149 IPC at Police Station Bhadson, Tehsil
Nabha, District Patiala and all the subsequent proceedings arising
therefrom on the basis of compromise dated 24.09.2021 (Annexure P-2).
On 28.10.2021, a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court was
pleased to pass the following order:-
"CRM-M-41794-2021
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This is a petition for quashing of FIR on the basis that a
compromise has been entered into between the parties.
Notice of motion for 17.12.2021.
At this stage, Mr. C.L. Pawar, Sr. DAG Punjab, who is present
in court, accepts notice on behalf of respondent No.1-State. Similarly,
Mr. Naveen Kumar, Advocate accepts notice on behalf of respondents
No.2 and 3 and files the power of attorney, which is taken on record.
He admits to the factum of compromise.
Service is complete.
The parties are directed to appear before the learned trial
Court/Illaqa Magistrate on 17.11.2021 or any other date convenient to
the trial court/Illaqa Magistrate, to get recorded their statements
regarding compromise and after recording their statements, learned
trial court/Illaqa Magistrate, is directed to send the report regarding
the genuineness of compromise and also to intimate whether any PO
proceedings are pending against any of the party on or before the date
fixed i.e. 17.12.2021.
A copy of this order be sent to learned trial Court/Illaqa
Magistrate through fax for compliance.
(JAISHREE THAKUR)
October 28, 2021 JUDGE"
In pursuance of the said order, the report has been submitted
by the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Nabha, to the Registrar General of
this Court. The relevant part of the report is reproduced hereinbelow:-
"From the statements of the parties, it appears to the Court
that the complainant Balwinder Kaur and injured Paramjit Singh and
accused (1) Mohinder Singh @ Sony (2) Jaswinder Kaur (3) Gurpreet
Singh (4) Sandeep Kaut (5) Hardeep Singh @ Deep effected
compromise without any pressure, coercion and same has been
effected with the free consent of the parties and compromise is
genuine, voluntary and without any coercion or undue influence. As
per the statement of complainant no accused has been declared
proclaimed offender in this case. A perusal of the Court record also
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shows that none of the accused is declared as proclaimed offender in
this case or in any other case before this Court.
The copies of statements of the persons, named above are
enclosed herewith for kind perusal of the Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana
High Court.
Submitted please.
Yours faithfully,
Encls: a/a Ankita Mittal, PCS
Judicial Magistrate Ist Class,
Nabha/ UID No. PB-0542"
A perusal of the said report would show that statements of
the concerned persons have been recorded in the case, who have stated
that the matter has been compromised and they have no objection in case
the FIR in question is quashed. They have further stated that the said
compromise is being entered into with there genuine, voluntary and
without any coercion or undue influence.
Learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that there is
no other FIR against the petitioners and they have not been declared
proclaimed offenders. Learned counsel for the State, as per instructions,
has stated that this fact is correct.
Learned counsel for respondent Nos.2 and 3 has again
reiterated that the matter has been settled and the said compromise is in
the interest of all the persons and would help in bringing out peace and
amity between the parties.
This Court has heard the learned counsel for the parties and
has perused the file.
After perusing the report submitted by the learned trial Court,
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this Court finds that the matter has been amicably settled between the
petitioners and the complainant. Since the matter has been settled and the
parties have decided to live in peace, this Court feels that in order to
secure the ends of justice, the criminal proceedings deserve to be
quashed.
As per the Full Bench judgment of this Court in "Kulwinder
Singh and others Vs State of Punjab", 2007 (3) RCR (Criminal) 1052,
it is held that High Court has power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to allow
the compounding of non-compoundable offence and quash the
prosecution where the High Court feel that the same was required to
prevent the abuse of the process of law or otherwise to secure the ends of
justice. This power of quashing is not confined to matrimonial disputes
alone.
Hon'ble the Apex Court in the case of "Gian Singh Vs. State
of Punjab and another", 2012 (4) RCR (Criminal) 543, had also
observed that in order to secure the ends of justice or to prevent the abuse
of process of Court, inherent power can be used by this Court to quash
criminal proceedings in which a compromise has been effected. The
relevant portion of para 57 of the said judgment is reproduced
hereinbelow:-
"57. The position that emerges from the above discussion can
be summarised thus: the power of the High Court in quashing a
criminal proceeding or FIR or complaint in exercise of its inherent
jurisdiction is distinct and different from the power given to a criminal
court for compounding the offences under Section 320 of the Code.
Inherent power is of wide plenitude with no statutory limitation but it
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has to be exercised in accord with the guideline engrafted in such
power viz; (i) to secure the ends of justice or (ii) to prevent abuse of
the process of any Court. XXX---XXX"
In view of what has been discussed hereinabove, this petition
is allowed and FIR No.19 dated 25.02.2020, registered under Sections
452, 354, 427, 323, 506, 148 and 149 IPC at Police Station Bhadson,
Tehsil Nabha, District Patiala and all the subsequent proceedings
emanating therefrom are ordered to be quashed, qua the petitioners.
( VIKAS BAHL )
February 07, 2022 JUDGE
naresh.k
Whether reasoned/speaking? Yes/No
Whether reportable? Yes/No
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