Crl. Misc. No.M-27098 of 2008 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Crl. Misc. No.M-27098 of 2008 Date of Decision: 28.01.2010 Nirmala Rani & another ....Petitioners Versus State of Punjab & five others ...Respondents CORAM : Hon'ble Ms. Justice Nirmaljit Kaur Present:- Mr. N.P. Sethi, Advocate for the petitioners. Ms. Ravinder Kaur Nihalsinghwala, Addl. A.G., Punjab Mr. Chander Shekhar, Advocate for respondents No.5 and 6. ***** 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 order shall dispose of Crl. Misc. No.M-27098 of 2008 and Crl. Misc. No.M-49 of 2009. For the sake of convenience, the facts of the case are being taken from Crl. Misc. No.M-27098-M of 2008. This is a petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. for quashing of the FIR No.134 dated 17.07.2008 under Sections 406, 498-A and 506 IPC at Police Station Sadar, Rajpura and subsequent proceedings arising therefrom on the basis of compromise entered into between the parties. The FIR was registered against the present petitioners, who are the real sisters of Raj Kumar, by respondent No.5-Sant Ram, the father of Swaran Lata-respondent No.6. The petitioners got married as way back as on 11.11.1980 and 10.05.1986, respectively and since then they are putting up at their matrimonial homes. Raj Kumar filed a petition under Section 13(1)(ia) & (ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 for dissolution of Crl. Misc. No.M-27098 of 2008 2 the marriage against his wife Swaran Lata-respondent No.6. The said FIR was filed by the father of Swaran Lata after passing the decree of divorce between Raj Kumar and respondent No.6-Swaran Lata. Thereafter, the matter has since been compromised with the intervention of the respectables of the Village and relatives of both the parties. The said compromise dated 28.01.2010 has been placed on record. The matter has been compromised between Swaran Lata daughter of the complainant- Sant Ram and Raj Kumar, husband of Swaran Lata. As per the compromise, the husband of Swaran Lata-respondent No.6 has paid Rs.5,50,000/- to Swaran Lata, which have duly been received by her. Swaran Lata-respondent No.6 has no objection, if the said FIR is quashed. She also undertakes to withdraw the petition under Section 125 Cr.P.C., pending before the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Rajpura. The said payment is towards the full and final settlement of all her claims against Raj Kumar. It has also been decided by both the parties that children, namely, Neeraj Dhiman and Monika Dhiman shall live with Raj Kumar, their father. Separate statement of Swaran Lata-respondent No.6 has also been recorded. As per the said statement, she has no objection, if the said FIR is quashed, in view of the compromise having been effected between her and her husband. She also undertakes to abide by the terms of the compromise. The statement of Raj Kumar has also been recorded separately, in which, he stated that he has already paid a sum of Rs.5,50,000/- to Swaran Lata and that he shall maintain the two children. 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, Crl. Misc. No.M-27098 of 2008 3 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 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 present case, the FIR arises out of the matrimonial dispute. The dispute is personal in nature. In view of the settled proposition of law, the compromise having been arrived at between Swaran Lata and her husband Raj Kumar and also taking into account the terms of the said compromise, it would be just and proper to quash the FIR. The said FIR was got registered by the father of Swaran Lata. The aggrieved party in the case is Swaran Lata-respondent No.6. The statement of Swaran Lata, who is the aggrieved party, is material in the case. The same has been recorded. The marriage already stands dissolved. Swaran Lata states that she has no objection if the FIR is quashed. The parties are, accordingly, bound by the terms of the compromise and the statements made before this Court. Accordingly, the present petition is allowed and FIR No.134 dated 17.07.2008 under Sections 406, 498-A and 506 IPC at Police Station Sadar, Rajpura and all subsequent proceedings arising therefrom are hereby quashed in the interest of justice. (NIRMALJIT KAUR) 27.01.2010 JUDGE gurpreet