High Courts may quash non-compoundable matrimonial proceedings when the parties have amicably settled their dispute.

The petitioners sought quashing under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) / Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), of FIR No. 11/2018, registered at PS Dwarka North under Sections 354B/323/328/34 IPC, and the consequential proceedings.

Respondent No. 2 was married to petitioner No. 2 in 2006; the FIR followed allegations of harassment and assault, and charges were framed against the petitioners on 5 November 2018.

During the proceedings, the parties executed a settlement deed on 25 September 2026. The spouses had been living together since 2024, and respondent No. 2 confirmed that she was living peacefully with her husband and his family; the parties cited their two daughters as a reason for resolving their disputes.

The State had no serious objection to the petition.

Whether the High Court could quash proceedings for non-compoundable offences under Sections 354B/323/328/34 IPC on the basis of a settlement in a matrimonial dispute.

Whether the settlement in this case justified quashing the FIR and consequential proceedings.

Section 528 BNSS (formerly Section 482 CrPC) preserves the High Court’s inherent power to quash criminal proceedings, including proceedings involving non-compoundable offences, where doing so would secure the ends of justice and no overriding public interest is adversely affected.

In Jitendra Raghuvanshi and Others v. Babita Raghuvanshi and Another, (2013) 4 SCC 58, the Supreme Court held that the High Court may quash criminal proceedings arising from matrimonial disputes when the parties have amicably and voluntarily settled their differences; Section 320 CrPC does not bar the exercise of that inherent power.

The Court found that the matrimonial dispute had been finally settled by the parties, who had resumed living together and were doing so peacefully. Respondent No. 2 confirmed the settlement in Court, and the State did not seriously oppose the petition.

Applying the principle in Jitendra Raghuvanshi, the Court concluded that quashing the non-compoundable offences was appropriate in the circumstances of this settled matrimonial dispute.

The petition and pending application were disposed of.