Punjab-Haryana High Court
Amritpal Singh And Others vs State Of Punjab And Others on 5 September, 2022
CRM-M-19560-2021 -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
Sr. No.247 CRM-M-19560-2021
Date of Decision: 05.09.2022
Amritpal Singh & ors. ...Petitioners
Versus
State of Punjab & ors. ...Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMAN CHAUDHARY
Present:- Mr. Rajesh Bhateja, Advocate for the petitioners.
Mr. Kamal Preet Bawa, AAG, Punjab.
Mr. G.S. Thind, Advocate,
for respondents No.2 & 3.
AMAN CHAUDHARY, J.(Oral)
Present petition has been filed for quashing of FIR No.10,
dated 31.01.2021, under Sections 323, 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC,
registered at Police Station Kabirpur, District Kapurthala, and all other
consequential proceedings arising therefrom on the basis of the
compromise deed and affidavit dated 11.03.2021 (Annexures P-2 & P-3
respectively).
On 12.10.2021, this Court had passed the following order:-
"Ld. counsel for the petitioners refers to Annexure P-
2, and states that the matter has been amicably settled
between the parties.
Notice of motion.
At this stage, Mr. C.L. Pawar, Sr. DAG, Punjab,
Advocate has appeared and filed power of attorney on
behalf of respondent No.2-complainant and admits the
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factum of compromise.
In this view of the matter, the parties shall appear
before the trial Court/Illaqa Magistrate on 28.10.2021 for
getting their statements recorded with regard to the
compromise arrived at between them. Ld. Trial Court/Illaqa
Magistrate after ensuring their identity as well as the fact
that the statements are being made by them voluntarily and
without any pressure, shall record the same and will submit
its report well before the next date of hearing. The
Magistrate shall also report about the veracity of the
compromise apart from informing the names and number of
the accused involved and whether any of the accused has
been declared proclaimed offender in the case.
List on 16.12.2021."
Pursuant to the aforesaid order, report dated 01.12.2021 has
been received from Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Sultanpur Lodhi. The
relevant paragraph of the said report is as under:-
"It is further submitted that thee are 05 persons arrayed
as accused in the present FIR No.10, dated 31.01.2021,
under Sections 323, 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC. As per
the statement of the Investigating Officer, none of the
petitioners/accused have been declared proclaimed
offender in the present case nor any proceedings for
declaring them as PO is pending. No other FIR is
pending against any of them
Compromise between parties appears to be
genuine as parties are closely related to each other and
they want to maintain peace and harmony in the family
bny6 putting an end to this litigation. Certified cipies of
statements of both the parties & investigating officer
recorded in this Court are being sent herewith. The
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report is accordingly submitted before the Hon'ble High
Court for kind perusal, please.
Thanking you
Yours faithfully,
(Rajinderpal Singh Gill)
Judicial Magistrate Ist Class,
Sultanpur Lodhi.
UID No.PB0464
A perusal of the said report reveals that statements of the
concerned persons have been recorded in the present case, who have
stated that the matter has been settled between the parties and they have
no objection in case the FIR in question is quashed. It is stated in the
report that there are five accused persons and the compromise effected
between the parties is genuine and has been arrived at between them
without any pressure or coercion. It is also stated in the report that none
of the accused is declared as proclaimed offender and no other case has
been registered against the accused persons except the FIR in question.
I have heard learned counsel for the parties and have also
gone through the case file.
After perusing the report submitted by the trial Court, this
Court finds that the matter has been amicably settled between the
petitioners and the complainants. Since the matter has been settled and
the parties have decided to live in peace, this Court is of the view 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,
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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 is of the view 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 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 the above, the petition is allowed and FIR No.10,
dated 31.01.2021, under Sections 323, 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC,
registered at Police Station Kabirpur, District Kapurthala, and all other
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consequential proceedings arising therefrom, is quashed qua the
petitioners.
05.09.2022 (AMAN CHAUDHARY)
monika JUDGE
Whether reasoned/speaking: Yes
Whether reportable: No
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