Quashing non-compoundable criminal proceedings permissible under Section 528 BNSS upon amicable settlement of private disputes.

The Applicants filed an application under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), seeking the quashing of a charge-sheet dated 20.10.2022, a summoning order dated 10.03.2023, and the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 13 of 2023

The case involved offences punishable under Sections 147, 323, 354, 504, and 506 of the IPC, arising from a scuffle between two rival ambulance service unions

A joint Compounding Application (I.A. No. 01 of 2026) was filed by the parties, stating they had reached an amicable settlement

The State opposed the application on the grounds that some of the involved offences are non-compoundable under the law

1. Whether the High Court should exercise its inherent power under Section 528 of the BNSS to quash criminal proceedings when the parties have reached a private settlement, even if some offences are non-compoundable?

The Court exercised its inherent jurisdiction under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (the successor to Section 482 of the CrPC), which empowers the High Court to pass orders necessary to prevent the abuse of the process of any Court or to secure the ends of justice

The Court applied the principle that in disputes of a private nature, an amicable settlement justifies the quashing of proceedings to prevent futile litigation, notwithstanding the non-compoundable nature of certain sections

The Court engaged in a direct interaction with the Applicants and Respondent Nos. 2 and 3, confirming that the parties had voluntarily resolved their dispute and had no objection to quashing the proceedings

Although the State Counsel raised a preliminary objection regarding the non-compoundable nature of certain offences, the Court prioritized the "private nature" of the dispute

The Court reasoned that because the conflict originated from a professional rivalry between ambulance operators which had since been settled, the continuation of the criminal trial would serve no useful purpose and would constitute an abuse of the legal process

The Court concluded that the interest of justice outweighed the technical statutory restrictions on compounding

The Court held that since the dispute was essentially private and settled, quashing was necessary to secure the ends of justice

The Criminal Miscellaneous Application filed under Section 528 of the BNSS was disposed of accordingly