Crl.M.No.20392-M of 2010 #1# IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl.M.No.20392-M of 2010 Date of Order: 6.9.2010 Karamjit Singh and others .....Petitioners Vs. State of Punjab and another .....Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASWANT SINGH Present: Mr. A.S. Cheema, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, AAG, Punjab for respondent No.1. Mr. N.S. Sidhu, Advocate for respondent No.2. JASWANT SINGH, J (ORAL) Prayer in the instant petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C is for quashing of FIR No.90 dated 3.6.2010 under Sections 498-A/323 IPC, P.S. City Dhuri, District Sangrur on the basis of compromise (P.2). It is stated that petitioner No.1 is husband, petitioner Nos.2 & 3 are parents in-law, petitioner Nos.4 & 6 are brother-in-laws and petitioner No.5 is sister-in-law of respondent No.2-wife (complainant). As per the allegations in the FIR, while residing in a joint family, petitioners used to harass and beat respondent No.2-complainant on account of demand for dowry. Upon notice, respondent No.2 is present in court and has been identified by her counsel Sh. N.S. Sidhu. She has filed a reply in court by way of short affidavit stating that she has reached a compromise with the petitioners and she is residing with her husband and his other family members in a peaceful atmosphere. Her statement has been separately recorded whereby she no longer wishes to pursue the prosecution of the petitioners and has no objection if the present FIR and all subsequent proceedings are quashed. Crl.M.No.20392-M of 2010 #2# Learned state counsel, on instructions from HC Harpal Singh, states that the challan in the present case has not yet been presented and he has no objection to quashing of FIR as the complainant has compromised the matter. A Full Bench of this Court in Kulwinder Singh and others v. State of Punjab and another, 2007(3) RCR (Criminal) 1052 has held that this Court, in appropriate cases, while exercising powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C., may quash an FIR disclosing the commission of non compoundable offences. The relevant extracts read 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 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.” Similar views were expressed by Hon'ble the Apex Court in Madan Mohan Abot v. State of Punjab 2008(4) SCC 582, the relevant extract of which is 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 Crl.M.No.20392-M of 2010 #3# 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.” Keeping in view the above settled legal position and taking into account the fact that the complainant-wife and her in-laws have desired to live in peace and harmony and carry on with their lives by resolving their differences and entering into the aforesaid compromise, it is evident that it is a fit case where 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 in the interest of justice. Accordingly, the present petition is allowed and FIR No.90 dated 3.6.2010 under Sections 498-A/323 IPC, P.S. City Dhuri, District Sangrur and all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom, are quashed. September 06, 2010 ( JASWANT SINGH ) manoj JUDGE