Uttarakhand High Court
27 June vs State Of Uttarakhand And Ors on 27 June, 2025
Author: Pankaj Purohit
Bench: Pankaj Purohit
2025:UHC:5468
HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL
Writ Petition Criminal No. 678 of 2025
27 June, 2025
Jeevan Chandra --Petitioner
Versus
State Of Uttarakhand and Ors. --Respondents
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Presence:-
Mr. Amar Murti Shukla, learned counsel for petitioner.
Mr. Bhaskar Chandra Joshi, learned A.G.A. for the State
of Uttarakhand/respondent Nos.1 and 2.
Mr. D.S. Mehta, learned counsel for respondent No.3.
Hon'ble Pankaj Purohit, J.
Heard learned Counsel for the parties.
2. By means of the present writ petition,
petitioner has put to challenge the First Information
Report No.0031 of 2025 dated 12.06.2025, under
Sections 115(2), 191(2) and 324(4) of the B.N.S. Act,
2023, registered with Police Station Tallital, District
Nainital, in view of the compromise entered into between
the parties.
3. Along with present criminal writ petition, a
joint compounding application (IA/1/2025) is filed, which
is signed and duly supported by separate affidavits by
petitioner and respondent No.3.
4. In the compounding application, it has been
stated by the parties that the parties have reached to the
terms of compromise with the intervention of some
respected people of the society, wherefor a settlement has
also reached between them. It is thus, prayed that the
present first information report be quashed in terms of
the compromise arrived at between the parties.
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5. Learned State Counsel raised a preliminary
objection to the effect that some offences sought to be
compounded are non-compoundable.
6. Petitioner-Jeevan Chandra and respondent
No.3-Shubhr Rastogi, are present before this Court, duly
identified by their respective counsel. On interaction,
respondent No.3 stated that the dispute is amicably
settled between them with the intervention of some
respected people of the society, therefore, he doesn’t want
to prosecute the above case against the petitioner in view
of the amicable settlement arrived between them. He
fairly conceded that he has no objection if compounding
application is allowed.
7. So far as compounding of non-compoundable
offence is concerned, the Apex Court has dealt with the
consequence of a compromise in this regard in the case
of B.S. Joshi and others vs. State of Haryana and
another, reported in (2003)4 SCC 675 and has held as
below: –
“If for the purpose of securing the ends of justice, quashing of FIR becomes
necessary, Section 320 Cr.P.C. would not be a bar to the exercise of power of
quashing. It is, however, a different matter depending upon the facts and
circumstances of each case whether to exercise or not such a power.”
8. Thus, the High Court, in exercise of its
extraordinary power can quash criminal proceedings or
FIR or complaint, and Section 320 of Cr.P.C. does not
limit or affect the powers under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India.
9. Learned counsel for the parties also drew the
attention of this Court towards the ruling of Gian Singh
v. State of Punjab and another, (2013) 1 SCC (Cri)
160, in which Hon’ble Supreme Court observed as below:
“The position that emerges from the above discussion can be summarised thus: the
power of the High Court in quashing a criminal proceeding or FIR or complaint in
exercise of its inherent jurisdiction is distinct and different from the power given to a
criminal court for compounding the offences under Section 320 of the Code. Inherent
power is of wide plenitude with no statutory limitation but it has to be exercised in
accord with the guideline engrafted in such power viz; (i) to secure the ends of justice or
(ii) to prevent abuse of the process of any Court. In what cases power to quash the
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criminal proceeding or complaint or F.I.R may be exercised where the offender and
victim have settled their dispute would depend on the facts and circumstances of each
case and no category can be prescribed. ………………… In this category of cases, High
Court may quash criminal proceedings if in its view, because of the compromise
between the offender and victim, the possibility of conviction is remote and bleak and
continuation of criminal case would put accused to great oppression and prejudice and
extreme injustice would be caused to him by not quashing the criminal case despite full
and complete settlement and compromise with the victim. In other words, the High
Court must consider whether it would be unfair or contrary to the interest of justice to
continue with the criminal proceeding or continuation of the criminal proceeding would
tantamount to abuse of process of law despite settlement and compromise between the
victim and wrongdoer and whether to secure the ends of justice, it is appropriate that
criminal case is put to an end and if the answer to the above question(s) is in
affirmative, the High Court shall be well within its jurisdiction to quash the criminal
proceeding.”
10. Since the parties have reached to the terms of
the compromise, this Court is of the firm opinion that
there would remain a remote or bleak possibility of
conviction in this case. It can also safely be inferred that
it would be unfair or contrary to the interest of justice to
permit continuation of the criminal proceedings. Since
the answer to the aforesaid points is in affirmative, this
Court finds it a fit case to permit the parties to
compound the matter.
11. Accordingly, compounding application (IA/1/
2025) is hereby allowed. The compromise arrived at
between the parties is accepted. The First Information
Report No. 0031 of 2025 dated 12.06.2025, under
Sections 115(2), 191(2) and 324(4) of the B.N.S. Act,
2023, registered with Police Station Tallital, District
Nainital, is hereby quashed. Consequently, all the
subsequent proceedings pursuant to the impugned FIR
automatically shall come to an end.
12. In view of the above, the present criminal writ
petition is allowed.
(Pankaj Purohit, J.)
27.06.2025
PN
PREETI
Digitally signed by PREETI NEGI
DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND,
ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND,
2.5.4.20=63c75a8c4765581180a58d7478fadbe383
31bac55c78b5f9f0276c16432f6aab,
NEGI
postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND,
serialNumber=2BA53171893B3C3CB3CCCAE81FAE
064498483A83D84BDB0F9229D5BF08D959AC,
cn=PREETI NEGI
Date: 2025.07.01 10:39:30 +05’30’
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