After Housing Developer Refunds Plot Payment, Uttarakhand HC Quashes Criminal Case On Complainant’s Settlement

The complainant’s relative had booked a plot in a housing colony developed by applicant no. 1.

The allegation was that, despite payment, possession was not delivered

The applicants sought to quash the charge-sheet, cognizance/summoning order, and proceedings in Criminal Case No. 1085 of 2024 under Sections 420, 120-B, 504 and 506 IPC, pending before the 2nd Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), Rudrapur, on the basis of a compromise.

The parties appeared, filed affidavits, and informed the Court that applicant no. 1 had returned the amount paid and that the complainant did not wish to pursue the prosecution.

The State objected that the offences were non-compoundable.

The Court relied on B.S. Joshi v. State of Haryana, (2003) 4 SCC 675, and the broader principle that the High Court may quash criminal proceedings where a compromise makes the possibility of conviction remote and bleak, and continuation would cause prejudice or injustice.

The order describes this as permitting the offences to be compounded; it does not identify a statutory provision for that exercise.

The Court accepted that the dispute had been amicably resolved, noting that the amount paid had been returned and that the complainant no longer wished to pursue the case.

Although the State objected that the offences were non-compoundable, the Court applied the compromise-based quashing principle it cited, concluding that continuation of the prosecution was unwarranted.

The criminal misc. application was disposed of accordingly.