Karnataka HC Quashes Cross-Cases Involving Estranged Couple’s Families After Spouses Settle And Decide To Live Separately

Criminal Petition No. 15392 of 2026 sought to quash proceedings in C.C. No. 50640/2026, arising from Crime No. 136/2025, alleging offences under Sections 118(1), 115(2), and 351(2), read with Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (“BNS”)

Criminal Petition No. 2625 of 2026 sought to quash proceedings in C.C. No. 74008/2025, arising from Crime No. 132/2025, alleging offences under Sections 115(2), 126(2), 3(5), 351(2), 352, and 85 of the BNS

The disputes were matrimonial, between Mohammed Arfaz Khan and Ulfath Ameena.

The parties and their family members were present, and the parties jointly applied to compound the offences and quash the proceedings, stating that they had settled the dispute and were contemplating dissolution of the marriage

The petitions were brought under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, stated in the petitions as filed under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023

The order cites no precedent and does not set out a separate legal test for quashing on settlement.

The Court noted that the cases arose from a matrimonial dispute, that the parties had jointly sought compounding and quashing, and that the spouses had settled and decided to pursue dissolution of their marriage and live separately

Having considered the joint applications, affidavits, grounds urged, and charge-sheet materials in both cases, the Court concluded that further trials would serve no purpose and allowed the applications

The Court allowed both criminal petitions and quashed the proceedings in C.C. No. 50640/2026 and C.C. No. 74008/2025