After Complainant Consents In Mediation And ₹25 Lakh Cheque Is Honoured, Madras HC Grants Anticipatory Bail In Commercial Dispute

The petitioner sought anticipatory bail in Crime No. 119 of 2024, registered by the respondent police.

The Court had referred the dispute to mediation; on the hearing date, counsel reported that the parties had settled, and the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre transmitted their settlement agreement.

Under the settlement, the de facto complainant agreed that anticipatory bail could be granted.

The petitioner also reported that a cheque for ₹25,00,000 had been honoured in part performance of the settlement.

The order does not identify any statute, precedent, or specific legal test.

It records that the dispute was commercial and civil in nature and, taking account of the settlement, grants anticipatory bail.

No further rule of law is expressly stated in the judgment.

The Court noted that the parties had settled through mediation, that the de facto complainant consented to anticipatory bail under the settlement, and that the petitioner had reported part compliance through payment of the ₹25,00,000 cheque.

Characterising the dispute as commercial and civil in nature, the Court considered anticipatory bail appropriate.

It directed the petitioner to execute a bond of ₹10,000 with two sureties for the like sum.

The settlement agreement was made part of the order, and each party was directed to pay ₹10,000 to the mediator; the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.