IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. No.M- 11462 of 2009 DATE OF DECISION :July 30, 2009. Gurmit Singh and others ...Petitioners Vs. State of Punjab and another ...Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH Present : Mr.S.S.Chauhan, Advocate for the petitioners Mr.Aman Deep Singh Rai, AAG, Punjab Mr.G.P.S.Bal, Advocate for respondents No.2 and 3. AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH,J. (Oral) The present petition has been preferred by the petitioners for quashing of DDR No.43 dated 17.07.2008 got recorded by Mandeep Kaur W/o Rajwinder Singh in the F.I.R. No. 169 dated 15.07.2008 under Sections 323,324,34 IPC registered at Police Station Sadar Hoshiarpur. Counsel for the petitioners contends that the matter has been amicably settled and the compromise has been entered into by the parties and the respondents are admitting the factum of the said compromise by way of filing an affidavit in this Court. The affidavit of Mandeep Kaur w/o Rajwinder Singh dated 30.07.2009 and Rajwinder Singh @ Raju s/o Hari Singh is taken on record. According to the said affidavit, respondent no.2 on whose statement the DDR No.43 dated 17.07.2008 was recorded in F.I.R. No.169 dated 15.07.2008 has stated that a compromise has been entered into and Criminal Misc. No.M- 11462 of 2009 -2- the dispute having been amicably settled. She and her husband who were also involved in the said F.I.R. and the registration of the DDR entered into compromise and thereafter does not want to pursue the matter any further. Mandeep Kaur w/o Rajwinder Singh and Rajwinder Singh both are present in the Court (as identified by their counsel). They, at the asking of the Court states that they have amicably resolved all the disputes and has been entered into which has resulted in a compromise dated 3rd February 2009 ( Annexure P-2) and thereafter in the light of the compromise they do not want to pursue the matter any further. Today, vide separate order in Criminal Misc.No.-M-8001 of 2009 F.I.R. No. 169 dated 15.7.2008 stands quashed by this Court on the basis of the compromise dated 3.2.2009. Reliance can be made upon the Larger Bench Judgment of this Court in the case Kulvinder 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 Criminal Misc. No.M- 11462 of 2009 -3- 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 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 DDR No.43 dated 17.07.2008 recorded in F.I.R. No. 169 dated 15.07.2008 under Sections 323,324,34 IPC registered at Police Station Sadar Hoshiarpur and all other consequent proceedings arising there from are quashed. (AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH) July 30, 2009 Judge ps