High Court May Quash SC/ST Act Proceedings Following Compromise in Private, Non-Heinous Disputes

The petitioner moved the High Court to quash the FIR and entire criminal proceedings in Barharwa P.S. Case No. 79 of 2025, registered for various offences under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

At the time of the petition, the investigation was ongoing and a charge-sheet had not yet been submitted.

During the proceedings, the petitioner and the informant (Opposite Party No. 2) filed Interlocutory Application No. 3619 of 2026, supported by mutual affidavits, stating they had reached a compromise through the intervention of well-wishers.

The parties argued that the dispute was essentially civil in nature and the criminal allegations were exaggerated.

1. Whether the High Court should exercise its inherent power under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, to quash criminal proceedings involving the SC/ST Act on the basis of a compromise.

2. Whether the continuation of the criminal proceedings, despite a private settlement between the parties, would amount to an abuse of the process of law.

Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (the successor to Section 482 Cr.P.C.), which saves the inherent power of the High Court to prevent the abuse of the process of any court or to secure the ends of justice.

The court relied on the guiding principles laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Parbatbhai Aahir @ Parbatbhai Bhimsinhbhai Karmur & Others v. State of Gujarat & Another (2017) 9 SCC 641, which distinguishes between heinous crimes and those with a "predominatingly civil flavour" or private nature where a settlement makes the possibility of conviction remote.

The court observed that the offences involved were not heinous nor did they involve "mental depravity," but rather stemmed from a private dispute between the parties.

Applying the Parbatbhai Aahir framework, the court reasoned that because a complete settlement had been reached, the chance of the petitioner being convicted was "remote and bleak".

The court determined that continuing the criminal case would subject the petitioner to "great oppression and prejudice" and result in "extreme injustice," especially since the informant no longer wished to proceed.

Given that the dispute was private and the parties had resolved their differences, the court concluded that quashing the proceedings was necessary to secure the ends of justice.

The Court allowed the petition and quashed the entire criminal proceeding, including the FIR in Barharwa P.S. Case No. 79 of 2025 pending in the court of the learned Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Sahibganj, qua the petitioner.

Interlocutory Application No. 3619 of 2026 was disposed of accordingly.