Criminal proceedings arising from a private commercial dispute may be quashed upon settlement.

The petitioner sought quashing under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, of Complaint Case No. 3813/2016, Pradeep Kumar v. Vishnu Kathuria, pending before the JMFC-04, North-West District, Rohini Courts, Delhi, and all proceedings arising from it.

The dispute arose from a private agency arrangement and was described as essentially commercial.

The parties, both senior citizens, had been involved in litigation for over two decades.

They resolved their dispute through a Mediation Settlement Agreement dated 28 July 2026, reached under the aegis of the Delhi Mediation Centre, Rohini District Courts.

Whether the complaint case and proceedings arising from it should be quashed under Section 528 BNSS in view of the parties’ mediated settlement.

Whether the private and commercial nature of the dispute, and the absence of public funds or public interest, support quashing the proceedings.

Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, was invoked as the basis for the High Court’s quashing jurisdiction.

The Court relied on Gian Singh v. State of Punjab, (2012) 10 SCC 303, in considering whether proceedings could be quashed following settlement, and concluded that there was no impediment to allowing the petition in the circumstances of this case.

The Court considered the dispute to be essentially commercial and private, noted that it had been resolved through mediation, and observed that no public funds or public interest were involved.

Given those circumstances and the parties’ prolonged litigation, the Court found no impediment under the principles referenced in Gian Singh to quashing the complaint and its consequential proceedings.

The petition was disposed of, and the pending application was also disposed of.