Amicable settlement of personal compoundable offences warrants quashing of criminal proceedings when victims withdraw prosecution.

The applicants sought quashing of the charge-sheet dated 18 February 2022, summoning order dated 14 June 2022, and proceedings in Criminal Case No. 4331 of 2022 arising from Crime No. 200 of 2021, pending before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dehradun, for offences under Sections 323, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

During the proceedings, the applicants, Respondent No. 2, and the injured person entered into an amicable settlement. A compounding application, supported by affidavits of the applicants, Respondent No. 2, and the injured person, was filed.

Upon interaction with the Court, Respondent No. 2 and the injured person stated that they did not wish to prosecute the applicants further, while the applicants confirmed the settlement and sought permission to compound the offences.

The State raised no objection, observing that the offences were compoundable.

Whether the offences under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC could be compounded in view of the settlement between the applicants, the complainant, and the injured person.

Whether, consequent upon such compounding, the charge-sheet, summoning order, and criminal proceedings should be quashed qua the applicants.

The Court applied the statutory law governing compounding of offences under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, holding that the offences alleged under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC were compoundable.

It further applied the principle that where a dispute is personal in nature, the parties have amicably settled the matter, and the complainant and injured person do not wish to continue the prosecution, permitting the criminal trial to proceed would serve no useful purpose.

The Court verified the settlement by personally interacting with the applicants, Respondent No. 2, and the injured person. All concerned parties confirmed that the dispute had been resolved and that the complainant and injured person no longer desired to prosecute the applicants.

Since the alleged offences were compoundable and the State had no objection, the Court concluded that the dispute was essentially private and that continuation of the criminal proceedings would be a futile exercise.

Accordingly, it permitted compounding and treated the criminal proceedings as liable to be terminated.

Consequently, the charge-sheet dated 18 February 2022, summoning order dated 14 June 2022, and the entire proceedings in Criminal Case No. 4331 of 2022 arising from Crime No. 200 of 2021, under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC, were quashed qua the present applicants only.

The criminal miscellaneous application and any pending application were disposed of accordingly.