Crl.M.No.488-M of 2009 #1# IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl.M.No.488-M of 2009 Date of Decision: 19.8.2010 Balbir Singh and another ....Petitioner(s) Versus State of Punjab and another ....Respondent(s) CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASWANT SINGH Present: Mr. S.P. Soi, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Gaurav Garg Dhuriwala, AAG, Punjab for respondent No.1. Mr. V.K. Thakur, Advocate for respondent No.2. JASWANT SINGH, J Present petition under section 482 Cr.PC is for quashing of FIR No.124 dated 27.10.2008 under sections 498-A/323/34 IPC, Police Station Bhogpur, District Jalandhar and all the subsequent proceedings arising out of the FIR. In the FIR complainant Kasha Rani had made allegations against the accused/petitioners, who are parents-in-law that they used to harass her on account of demand of dowry while taunting her. She had been given beatings and was made to consume phenyl mixture. There having been a possibility of reconciliation, the parties were directed to appear before Mediation and conciliation Centre of this Court on 25.3.2010 vide order dated 9.3.2010 passed by this Court. Crl.M.No.488-M of 2009 #2# Sh. Atul Lakhanpal, Senior Advocate had been appointed as Mediator vide order dated 25.3.2010 passed by Sh. R.K. Sharma, OSD-cum- Nodal Officer, Mediation & Conciliation Centre to settle the dispute. Thereafter, statements of the parties were recorded on 18.5.2010 in the presence of the said Mediator. In the said statement, complainant- respondent No.2 Kasha Rani had agreed to file an affidavit in the present petition to the effect that she has entered into a compromise and has no objection if the proceedings against the petitioners are quashed. Today, respondent No.2-Kasha Rani is present in court and has been identified by her counsel. She has filed an affidavit dated 19.8.2010 in court to the effect that she has compromised the matter with the petitioners on 18.5.2010 in the Mediation Centre and has received Rs.2 lacs out of 2.65 lac and that the remaining amount of Rs.65,000/- will be paid to her on the day, she makes the final statement before the Matrimonial court in petition for mutual divorce. She has no objection if the afpresaid FIR against the petitioners is quashed. 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 Crl.M.No.488-M of 2009 #3# 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 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 both the parties have desired to live in peace and harmony and carry on with their lives without any ill will or rancour 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.124 dated 27.10.2008 under sections 498-A/323/34 IPC, Police Station Crl.M.No.488-M of 2009 #4# Bhogpur, District Jalandhar and all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom, are quashed. 19.8.2010 ( JASWANT SINGH ) manoj JUDGE