High Court exercises inherent powers to quash compoundable criminal proceedings following amicable settlement between parties.

A private complaint was filed by respondent no. 2 on May 24, 2021, alleging various offenses under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

On December 13, 2022, the 4th Additional Senior Civil Judge, Jamnagar, issued summons specifically for offenses punishable under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 114 (abettor present when offense committed) of the IPC.

During the pendency of Criminal Case No. 11253 of 2022, the parties reached an amicable settlement and filed a compromise purshish (Exh. 70) on February 23, 2026.

The learned Magistrate, however, failed to record the compromise or pass an order of acquittal, instead adjourning the matter for administrative reasons and pending dictations.

Consequently, the applicants moved the High Court to quash the proceedings under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

Whether the High Court should exercise its inherent powers under Section 528 of the BNSS to quash criminal proceedings when the parties have reached an amicable settlement for compoundable offenses.

The Court primarily applied Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (the successor to Section 482 of the CrPC), which empowers the High Court to make orders necessary to prevent abuse of the process of law or to secure the ends of justice.

The Court further referred to Section 320 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, noting that offenses under Section 323 of the IPC are legally compoundable.

The Court evaluated the report from the Principal District Judge, which indicated that the trial Magistrate had not acted on the settlement primarily due to administrative constraints and a backlog of judgments.

The Court observed that since the parties had settled the matter and the offenses involved were compoundable under the law, the continuation of criminal proceedings would be a "futile exercise".

It reasoned that forcing the parties to proceed with the trial despite a resolution would amount to an "abuse of process of law" and cause "unnecessary harassment/hardships" to the litigants.

Therefore, the Court determined that the ends of justice would be better served by quashing the proceedings rather than allowing them to linger in the trial court.

The Court held that when an amicable settlement is reached in matters involving compoundable offenses, the High Court is justified in invoking its inherent powers to prevent the waste of judicial resources and avoid unnecessary hardship to the parties.

All consequential proceedings arising from the complaint were also set aside.