IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. No. M-27521 of 2008 (O/M). Date of Decision : September 24, 2009. Smt. Varinder Kaur ...... Petitioner . Versus. U.T. Administration, Chandigarh, and another ..... Respondents. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH. Present:- Mr. Raman Sharma, Advocate, for the petitioner . Mr. Jasmandeep, Advocate, for Mr. Anupam Gupta, Senior Standing Counsel, for U.T. Administration, Chandigarh. Mr. H.S. Bajwa, Advocate, for the accused (Narinder Pal Singh and Devinder Jit Kaur). AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (ORAL). The present petition is for quashing of F.I.R., which has been registered at the behest of the petitioner-complainant Varinder Kaur, on the basis of a compromise, which has been entered into between her and her husband Harpreet Singh, who is stated to have died during the pendency of the petition on 28.12.2008. Counsel for the petitioner submits that the present petition deserves to be allowed for the reason that the petitioner herself, who is the complainant, has approached this Court with a prayer for quashing of the F.I.R. No. 464 dated 10.10.2007 under Sections 323, 506, 34 I.P.C., Police Station Sector 34, Chandigarh. He submits that after the death of husband of the petitioner namely Harpreet Singh-respondent No. 2, the other two Criminal Misc. No. M-27521 of 2008. accused are Narinder Pal Singh s/o Sh. Mohinder Singh aged 68 years and Smt. Devinder Jit Kaur wife of Shri Narinder Pal Singh aged 68 years, who are father-in-law and mother-in-law respectively of the petitioner. He further submits that the petitioner does not want to pursue the F.I.R. in question and prays that the present petition be allowed. Smt. Varinder Kaur, wife of late Sh. Harpreet Singh has filed the present petition and has filed an affidavit in support of the petition. She is present in the Court as has been identified by her counsel and also by S.I. Sarwan Singh, Police Station Sector 34, Chandigarh, who is the Investigating Officer of the case. She states that the present petition has been filed by her in the light of compromise, which has been entered into between the parties, but unfortunately she has lost her husband Harpreet Singh, who died on 28.12.2008. She further submits that the remaining two accused namely Shri Narinder Pal Singh and Smt. Devinder Jit Kaur are old persons and she does not want to pursue the matter qua them also. She further states that she does not have any objection, if the F.I.R. in question and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom are quashed. Counsel for U.T. Administration also, in the light of peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, does not have any objection to the quashing of F.I.R. in question and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom. In the light of statement made by the complainant-petitioner, who is present in the Court and keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, the interest of justice would be served by quashing the F.I.R. in question and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom. A compromise has been entered into between the parties and the -2- Criminal Misc. No. M-27521 of 2008. same is place on record as Annexure-P-2. This factum having been admitted by the complainant herself, who is the petitioner in the present petition, and her specific statement that she does want to pursue the matter any further and she does not have any objection to the quashing of F.I.R. in question and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom, the present petition deserves to be allowed and the F.I.R. in question and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom deserve to be quashed. Reliance can be made upon the Larger Bench Judgment of this Court in the case Kulwinder Singh and others Versus State of Punjab and another 2007(3) R.C.R. (Criminal) 1052, while discussing the scope of quashing of prosecution on the basis of compromise, by this Court in exercise of powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C., even in non-compoundable offences, has held as under :- “28. 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 in a matrimonial discord, landlord-tenant matters, commercial transactions and other such matters can safely be dealt with by the Court by exercising its powers under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. in the event of a compromise, but this is not to say that the power is limited to such cases. There can never be any such rigid rule to prescribe the exercise of such power, especially in the absence of any premonitions to forecast and predict eventualities which the cause of justice may throw up during the course of a litigation. 29. The only inevitable conclusion from the above discussion is that there is no statutory bar under the Cr.P.C. which can -3- Criminal Misc. No. M-27521 of 2008. 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 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.” Therefore, in view of the discussion above, since the parties have amicably settled the matter, which is otherwise in the interest of justice and appears to have been effected to promote peace and harmony amongst the parties, the instant petition is allowed. Consequently, impugned F.I.R. No. 464 dated 10.10.2007 under Sections 323, 506, 34 I.P.C., Police Station Sector 34, Chandigarh and all other consequent proceedings arising there from are quashed. (AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH) JUDGE September 24, 2009. sjks. -4-