Crl. Misc. No.M-8660 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Crl. Misc. No.M-8660 of 2010 Date of Decision: 23.03.2010 Veekunth Arora ....Petitioner Versus State (UT, Chandigarh) and others ...Respondents CORAM : Hon'ble Ms. Justice Nirmaljit Kaur Present:- Mr. S.K. Vohra, Advocate for the petitioner. ***** 1. Whether Reporters of Local Newspapers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest ? ** NIRMALJIT KAUR, J. (ORAL) This is a petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C for quashing of the FIR No.00003 dated 05.01.2009 registered under Sections 279, 337 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code at Police Station, Sector 11, Chandigarh and all subsequent proceedings arising thereon, on the basis of compromise P-2 effected between the parties i.e. petitioner and respondents No.2 and 3. Notice of motion. At this stage, Mr. Mohit Jaggi, Advocate appears and accepts notice on behalf of respondents No.2 and 3. The FIR was registered against the present petitioner by respondent No.3-Avtar Singh son of Gian Singh. Now, with the intervention of relatives and friends, the matter has been compromised between the petitioner and respondents No.2 and 3, who are the injured and complainant, respectively. The affidavit of respondent No.2-Lakhwinder Crl. Misc. No.M-8660 of 2010 2 Singh son of Amrik Singh, as well as, the affidavit of Avtar Singh son of Gian Singh have been filed along with the petition as P-3 and P-4, respectively. As per the compromise and affidavits, the matter has been compromised out of their own free will and without any pressure. It is further stated in their respective affidavits that they have no objection, if the said FIR is quashed. A separate statement to that effect was got recorded by Lakhwinder Singh, who was the injured, wherein, he has stated that he has no objection, if the FIR is quashed. Similar statement was also got recorded by Avtar Singh, respondent No.4 who is the complainant. He, too, has no objection, if the said FIR is quashed. As per the allegations in the FIR, the car driven by the petitioner, while coming from inside the Panjab University at a very high speed, struck the vehicle head on against the barricade. Respondent no.2-Lakhwinder Singh, who was standing nearby, received minor injuries. The dispute is personal in nature. The matter has been compromised. The Full Bench of this Court, in the case of Kulwinder Singh and others vs. State of Punjab and another 2007(3) RCR (Criminal) 1052 has held that the compromise, in a modern society, is the sine qua non of harmony and orderly behaviour. It is the soul of justice and if the power under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C is used to enhance such a compromise which, in turn, enhances the social amity and reduces friction, then it truly is “finest hour of justice”. Disputes which have their genesis not only in matrimonial discord but others as well, such compromise deserves to be accepted. It is further held as under :- “ The only inevitable conclusion from the above discussion is that there is no statutory bar under the Cr.P.C which can affect the inherent power of this Court under Section 482. Further, the same cannot be limited to matrimonial cases alone and the Court has the Crl. Misc. No.M-8660 of 2010 3 wide power to quash the proceedings even in non- compoundable offences notwithstanding the bar under Section 320 of the Cr.P.C in order to prevent the abuse of law and to secure the ends of justice.” In the case of Madan Mohan Abbot vs. State of Punjab 2008(4) S.C. Cases 582, the Apex Court emphasised and advised as under :- “ We need to emphasise that it is perhaps advisable that in disputes where the question involved is of a purely personal nature, the court should ordinarily accept the terms of the compromise even in criminal proceedings as keeping the matter alive with no possibility of a result in favour of the prosecution is a luxury which the courts, grossly overburdened as they are, cannot afford and that the time so saved can be utilised in deciding more effective and meaningful litigation. This is a common sense approach to the matter based on ground of realities and bereft of the technicalities of the law.” In view of the facts of the present case and taking into account that the matter has been compromised, there is no impediment in the way of the Court to exercise its inherent powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C for quashing of the FIR. Accordingly, the present petition is allowed and FIR No.00003 dated 05.01.2009 registered under Sections 279, 337 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code at Police Station, Sector 11, Chandigarh and all subsequent proceedings arising thereon, are hereby quashed in the interest of justice. (NIRMALJIT KAUR) 23.03.2010 JUDGE gurpreet