Criminal Proceedings for Personal Disputes May Be Quashed Under Inherent Powers Upon Amicable Settlement Between Parties

The petitioners, Subodh Kumar Singh and Ranjeet Kumar Mishra, were facing a criminal proceeding in connection with Sector 4 P.S. Case No. 98 of 2020 (G.R. Case No. 1178 of 2022).

The learned CJM, Bokaro, had taken cognizance of offenses punishable under Sections 406, 409, 420, 120B, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on November 11, 2022.

Charges had not yet been framed.

During the pendency of the proceeding, the petitioners and the informant (Opposite Party No. 2) filed an interlocutory application (I.A. No. 6603 of 2026) supported by affidavits, stating that the dispute—which was private and civil in nature—had been settled through the intervention of well-wishers.

1. Whether the High Court should exercise its inherent power under Section 528 of the BNSS, 2023 (formerly Section 482 of the CrPC) to quash a criminal proceeding on the basis of a compromise between the parties in matters involving commercial or private disputes.

Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which preserves the inherent power of the High Court to prevent abuse of the process of any court and to secure the ends of justice.

Parbatbhai Aahir @ Parbatbhai Bhimsinhbhai Karmur and Others v. State of Gujarat and Another (2017), which established that while heinous crimes cannot be quashed via compromise, criminal cases with "predominatingly civil flavour" arising from commercial or financial transactions may be quashed if the possibility of conviction is remote and continuation would cause extreme injustice.

The Court observed that the dispute between the petitioners and the informant was essentially a private civil matter to which a "cloak of criminal case" had been given.

Since the parties had entered into a full settlement and the informant expressed no interest in pursuing the case, the Court reasoned that the likelihood of conviction was "remote and bleak".

Applying the guidelines from Parbatbhai Aahir, the Court determined that the case did not involve public policy or heinous offenses like murder or rape, which would otherwise preclude quashing.

Consequently, the Court found that allowing the trial to continue would constitute an abuse of the judicial process and result in unnecessary oppression of the accused.

The High Court allowed the petition, quashing and setting aside the entire criminal proceeding and the cognizance order dated November 11, 2022, passed by the CJM, Bokaro.